Young people as a media audience: From content to usage processes

This research describes the results of a study on young people’s media usage patterns in Latvia during a period of four years from 2007 until 2010. The present study consists of three parts: it analyses the so-called “media day” of young people and shows which media, which content and for what needs are used in different parts of the day; the study collects data about a “media set” chosen by young people and tests what media technological features are used by young people on a regular basis. The results of this particular research allow the discussion of the following questions: What is the correlation between functions of media usage and the level of young people’s awareness about important political, economic and social issues? What particular individual or social conditions can impact young people’s media usage? How does young media users’ behaviour reflect the phenomena of ‘participation culture’ or ‘collective intelligence’? The chosen methods of this research are questionnaire and focus groups discussions.