The future of minority languages on the Internet and young prosumers. The Basque case

Abstract

This article provides a diagnosis of the presence of Basque, compared to Spanish and English, in the creation and consumption of new Internet audiovisual formats among Basque adolescents, in the context of a bilingual society. The results derive from a survey filled out by 2,426 students of Secondary School (12-16 years old) from Guipúzcoa, and analyze the taxonomy of Internet media products that these adolescents follow and create. The use of language and geographic distribution locate these prosumers, in whose hands is the survival of Basque language on the Internet. The data obtained proves the existence of two crucial factors that geographically identify and locate young Basque prosumers, who play a strategic role in the survival of their language. The first is the main use of Basque over Spanish in their daily life, as well as in their academic and technological environments. This factor is directly related to the second factor: The coexistence of different sociolinguistic realities in the Basque Country. These young prosumers mainly come from inland Basque-speaking regions, with very few living in urban areas where Spanish prevails. This research lays the foundations for the implementation of an institutional program to create engaging online audiovisual content in Basque for young people.