JORNALISMO PRODUZIDO NO CONTEXTO DAS WEBTVS: UMA ANÁLISE COMPARATIVA ENTRE BRASIL E PORTUGAL

Financiador

Organização

Publicações

Expanding participation in locative media with latinos in Austin, Texas

Publication . Silva, Cláudia Cristina da; Straubhaar, Joseph; Granado, António

Throughout the last decade, mobile and location-based media has been an emerging subject in a growing and interdisciplinary body of research: ubiquitous computing, pervasive computing, urban studies and media studies, and the fusion of the last two: media geography. Until now, studies of locative media have predominantly focused on the experiences of high-end and techy-savvy users. Companies and designers continue to design applications for those who are already familiar with the online world and have the right skills to take fully advantage of GPS-enabled phones. This dissertation shifts this focus to investigate participation in the general use of locative media and, specifically, in the production of locative storytelling by focusing on Latino, low-income and low-end smartphone users. Access to mobile technologies is no longer an issue for this group, as they are heavy users of smartphones. In fact, Latinos/as have been considered the audience of the future in regards to digital media in the United States. Furthemore, Latinos/as are leading the trend in mobile ownership, adopting smartphones at a higher rate than any other demographic group. Despite all this evidence, research about Latinos and locative media is scarce. Within this context, this dissertation addresses the broad question of “how locative media may foster awareness about local history, of unknown or forgotten information, and social events among and about Latinos/as in a place that faces historical spatial segregation.” The goal behind this approach was to investigate how the Latino community that is concentrated in a specific geographical area of Austin is represented spatially to the outside as in Austin, Texas. Hence, this work envisaged bringing outsiders into the reality of Latinos/as living in a historically segregated area mainly to create awareness about the legacy of segregation in Austin. In order to test this approach, two groups of users were selected to practice and reflect on locative media in relation to Latino/as segregated community. The group corresponding to among Latinos (insiders) are resident immigrant Latino parents in Dove Springs – a neighborhood in Southeast Austin. Specifically, this group consists of participants of the digital inclusion program TechComunidad provided by the nonprofit River City Youth Foundation (RCYF) in 2013. The group corresponding to the about Latinos (outsiders) are undergraduate students of “Mapping Latino Culture in East Austin” course, offered by the Radio, Television and Film department at The University of Texas at Austin. A pilot study was conducted with Latinas girls through the non-profit Latinitas. The pilot study generated results and lessons that enriched the research, contributing to reframing this work and also to the body of literature about locative media and storytelling. In regards to participation, it was found that the problem is not smartphone ownership, which had been an issue for earlier locative media projects, but an awareness of their locative capabilities, how to use them, how to gain skills to create content with them, and how to make software easy to use. The findings of this study suggest that there should be more investment in the production of locative content/information, which increases the understanding users have of their locality and enhances their knowledge of the place they live. One recommendation for future empirical research with these communities is to invest in introductory classes on local history and also in fieldtrips in order to increase local knowledge. However, it seems like a romantic idea to think that people will use locative applications solely to learn about the place where they live. In this sense, the findings of this work suggest that locative storytelling applications need to be woven into everyday needs, being integrated into people’s everyday activities, in order to increase their sense of place and belonging.

2016-05-19Tese de doutoramento

Acesso aberto

Ver mais

Entidade financiadora

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Programa de financiamento

FARH

Número da atribuição

SFRH/BD/51304/2010