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Global natives? Serving young audiences on global media platforms

Global platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Netflix dominate the media lives of Norwegian teenagers. Do national media actors still have a chance to win back the “lost generation”?

A young girl with headphones in front of several pc screens.

The new generation has completely different media habits than their parents. The project examines both the changing media habits and their consequences for the media industry.Illustration: Colourbox.com

About the project

"Global Natives" studies whether the media habits of teens mark a generational shift, where teens will not adapt the media habits of older generations. National media organizations raise the alarm for a "lost generation" and how re-engaging with youth audiences is core to their legitimacy and economic sustainability. 

Global platforms also cause challenges for media policy, struggling to keep up with the media habits of teens and the increased competition faced by national media players. 

The project focuses on entertainment media, and the actions taken by national media producers and policymakers to become relevant for a new media generation. Entertainment media include content produced by legacy media players and by online celebrities, influencers and gamers. 

Objectives

The primary objective is to investigate "global natives" as a generation with settled and radically different entertainment media habits, and the actions taken by national media producers and policymakers in order to become relevant for a new media generation.

Within a framework of youth/audience studies, production/media industry studies, and media policy studies, the project examines and theorizes tensions between the global and local.

Cooperation

The following institutions are contributing to the project:

  • Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo
  • Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen
  • Institute of Social Research, Oslo
  • Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries, King’s College London.

Duration

01.06.2021 - 31.01.2025

Financing

The project is financed by the Research Council of Norway. Grant nr. 315917.

Publications

Lüders (forthcoming 2024) "Streaming media/experiences: a conceptualization informed by critical theory and media entertainment studies", in Bowman, Nick (ed.) Handbook of Entertainment Media and Communication. DeGruyter.  

Steen-Johnsen & Sundet (forthcoming 2024) "Theories of the Policy Process", in Mansell, Puppis & Van Den Bulck (eds.) Handbook of Media and Communication Governance. Edward Elgar.

Sundet (2023) "Public service youth content on social media platforms: Reaching youth through YouTube", in Jensen, Redvall & Christensen (eds.) Audiovisual content for children and adolescents in Scandinavia: Production, distribution, and reception in a multiplatform era. Nordicom, pp. 79-98. 

Sundet & Lüders (2022) "Young people are on YouTube: Industry notions on streaming and youth as a new media generation", Journal of Media Business Studies, online first.

Lüders Sundet (2022) "Globalt innfødte som en tapt generasjon? En konseptualisering av unge som en mediegenerasjon", Norsk medietidsskrift, online first.

Conferences and seminars

ECREA pre-conference (forthcoming) "Digital content creators, platforms and changing cultural institutions", Ljubljana, 23 September 2024.

UiO Breakfast Seminar "Hvis influensere er svaret, hva var spørsmålet? Mediefrokost om jakten på de unge", Domus Bibliotheca, Oslo, 29 November. See news story about the event

ECREA pre-conference 'Young people, entertainment and cross-media storytelling: Perspectives and methods for investigating youth media', Aarhus, 18 October 2022. See blog post abut the event

Essays and op-eds

Sundet (2024) "Ung-utfordringen, et ekte dilemma", op-eds in M24, 3 January. 

Sundet (2023) "It’s A Picnic Basket, Not A Fridge? Strategies from Norway for reaching a new media generation", essay in Kirkham & Woodfall (eds.) The Children's Media Yearbook 2023. The Children's Media Foundation. 

Presentations

Lüders (2024) "Hvor er de unge i medielandskapet?", presentation at Åpen Dag 2024, organised by the University of Oslo, Oslo, 7 March. 

Sundet (2024) "Bransjestrategier for å nå de unge", presentation at Medietrender 2024, organised by Kantar Media, Oslo, 11 Januar. 

Arneberg (2023) "YouTube is still the most popular media for Norwegian teens, but how are they using it, and what does it mean to them?", presentation at CeCoR@ASCoR, Amsterdam, 30 November. 

Lüders (2023) "Hvem er de 'Global Natives'? Hvor er de unge i medielandskapet?", presentation at Buster Barnemediekonferanse, Copenhagen, 3 October.

Sundet (2023) "Tingenes tilstand: Vinteren har kommet", presentation at Seriedagene, Oslo, 28 September.

Sundet (2023) "Perspektiver på barn og unges medievaner", presentation at I strømmen av innhold: 7-14 åringes forhold til film, serier og spill, organised by the Norwegian Film Institute, Oslo, 21 September.

Sundet (2023) "Growing up on Big Tech: How global platforms define youth entertainment culture, keynote at NordMedia 2023, Bergen, 18 August.

Lüders (2023) "Experience machines for well-being? Teens as audiences of social media entertainment", presentation at NordMedia 2023, Bergen, 17 August.

Arneberg (2023) "Looking for a sense of belonging: the paradox of youths YouTube habits. Reaching how Norwegian youth use YouTube", presentation at NordMedia 2023, Bergen, 17 August.

Sundet (2023) "Influencer autonomy: Navigating authenticity, agency and algorithms", presentation at NordMedia 2023, Bergen, 17 August.

Sundet (2023) "Commissioning screen stories for youth", presentation at SCMS, Denver, 12 April.

Sundet (2022) "Hvis influenser er svaret, hva var spørsmålet?", talk at HF Mediefrokost, Domus Bibliotheca, Oslo, 29 November. 

Sundet (2022) "Ungdom og underholdningsmedier", talk at Ungdatakonferansen, Oslo, 6 November. 

Lüders (2022) "Entertainment across boundaries? A repertoire study of media use among Norwegian teens", presentation at ECREA, Aarhus 20 October. 

Arneberg (2022) "Does authenticity matter? Exploring how teens value YouTube content in their everyday user-practice", presentation at ECREA pre-conferanse Young people, entertainment and cross-media storytelling, Aarhus, 19 October. 

Lüders (2022) "Media entertainment experiences among youth on global platforms", talk at Media Futures Seminar, online, 13 May. 

Sundet (2021) "Hvordan skal NRK engasjere et ungt publikum? Unge som  'innfødte' i en global mediekultur', talk at Kringkastingsrådet (tv.nrk.no, in Norwegian), Oslo, 23 November. 

Sundet & Lüders (2021) "Unge som innfødte i en global mediekultur?", talk at Medietrender Ung 2021, Oslo, 26 August.

Sundet (2021) "Young streamers: Who are they and how to reach them?", talk at Seriedagene 2021 (seriedagene.no, in Norwegian), Oslo, 30 September. 

Published June 24, 2021 2:10 PM - Last modified Mar. 20, 2024 2:06 PM

Participants

Detailed list of participants