Isabel Rodríguez and Juan José Igartua Observatorio de Contenidos Audiovisuales (OCA) University of Salamanca

1. Risks of Interactive Communication. A Digital Literacy proposal.
Isabel Rodríguez de Dios
Juan José Igartua

2. Rise of new technologies
Technological advances
Leisure
Learning
Work
Communications
Digital Society
Changing social and family relationships
(Bernabeuet al, 2011)

3. 
Teens fully immersed in Digital Society
•
Internet users: 26% in 2001, 70% in 2012(Beentjeset al, 2001; EGM)
•
6 out of 10 children over 10 years old own a mobile phone. After 15 years old, 9 out of 10 have it (INE).

Bedroom Culture
•
Spend more and more time in their rooms
•
Less parental control (Bovilly Livingstone, 2001; Garitaonania, Fernándezy Olega, 2005).

4. Interactive communication
Communication mediated by digital technologies (Scolari, 2008)
Tools: instant messaging, social networks, email…
Technologies: computer, mobile phones, videogames…
Interactive communication
Possibilities and benefits
Keeps connected individuals in society (Lin, 2009)
Disadvantages
Mismanagement of information  privacy loss
(Area, 2001)

5. Risks of Interactive Communication in minors
RISKS
Pornography
Cyberbullying
Grooming
Sexting
Contact with strangers
Impersonation
(Ararteko, 2009; García, López de Ayala y Catalina, 2014; Livingstoneet al., 2011; Ólafsson, Livingstoney Haddon, 2013; Valkenburgy Peter, 2011)

6. 
15% of minors have been involved in a sexting activity

6% has received nasty or hurtful messages online

1 in 3 children has contacted someone who they didn’t know face to face and 9% of them has met this person

A quarter of minors has provided personal information to strangers

10% of them have had their identity supplanted to be harmed
(EU KidsOnline, García et al., 2014)

7. 8% don’t care about the risks
7% admit not knowing how to avoid them
SERIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
•
Anxiety
•
Depression
•
Stress
•
Sleep disturbance
•
Frustration
•
Irritability
•
Eating disorders
•
Suicide attempts
•
Suicide

8. Need for Digital Literacy

Childrenshouldbeencouragedtotakeresponsibilityfortheirownsafety(Livingstoneetal.,2011).

Themoredigitallyliteratechildrenare,themorebenefitstheycangetfromtheseenvironments(Soncketal.,2011).

9. Digital Literacy

Morethanasimpleabilitytousesoftwareorfunctionsinadigitalmedium.

Itincludescognitive,motor,socialandemotionalskillsthattheuserneedstofunctioneffectivelyinadigitalenvironment(Eshet,2004).
We cannot deprive adolescents of interactive communication
Solution: Give them the tools to be able to use these technologies safely
Process of Digital Literacy

10. State-of-the-art

Boom in the research related to digital and interactive media

Research trying to delve into the risks of digital media

Digital literacy as a prevention tool
Alfabetizaciónmediática:diseño,ejecuciónyevaluacióndeunprogramadeintervenciónconadolescentes.

11. Two theoretical frameworks
1)
Strategy of entertainment-education
Intentionalplacementofeducationalcontentinmessagesintendedforentertainment.
2)
Narrative persuasion
Theuseofnarrativefictionproducesagreaterimpactonknowledge,attitudesandbehaviorsthanthetraditionalformatdoes.

12. Research objective goal
Improvedigitalskillsinadolescentswiththeaimthattheycouldafford,withoutdangers,therisksofinteractivecommunicationandmaximizetheopportunitiesthatthiscommunicationgivestothem.

13. Methodology
•Questionnaire with a scale which will measure the different digital skills.
Survey
•Check whether the degree of digital literacy influences the degree of gratification obtained with digital contents.
Experiment
•See if the app is effective to digitally literate, and more specifically, whether the narrative persuasion is effective in persuading and educating.
Experiment

14. Conclusions
1.
Risksofinteractivecommunicationarebecomingmorenumerousanddangerous
2.
Digitalliteracyasapreventiontool
3.
Currentandexpectedcontributions:
Thisprojectaimstoadvanceinthestudyofpreventionthroughnarrativepersuasionsomethingnewintheinvestigationoftherisksofinteractivecommunication.

15. Thank you very much for your attention
Risks of Interactive Communication. A Digital Literacy proposal
isabelrd@usal.es