Teens and digital image creation on social media: informal learning, transmedia skills and professional profiles

Abstract

Objectives: This paper presents results from the Transmedia Literacy (H2020) project, carried out with teenagers from eight countries in Europe, Latin American and Oceania. The principal aim is to explore how teens construct their digital image on social media, focusing particularly on those participants who are professionalising their online activity and on the skills and practices they employ. We also look at the correlation between the observed skillsets and the skills profles of communication professionals like community managers. Methods: A short-term ethnography approach is used (Pink; Morgan, 2013) together with a variety of data collection methods (questionnaires, creative workshops, interviews, media diaries and online observation). Results: The results show that some teens acquire skill profles compatible with professional practice through informal learning in social media environments. A small number of the participants are developing professional-level skills and have even begun to monetise their social media activity. The data suggest that formal education must broaden its horizons to cater for and build on the knowledge and potential that teens are acquiring informally across a range of digital settings.