GoodWork Paper 54: Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media (PDF)

Author(s): Carrie James with Katie Davis, Andrea Flores, John M. Francis

Editor(s): Howard Gardner, Series Editor

Media: PDF

Description: The new digital media are a frontier rich with opportunities and risks, particularly for young people. Through digital technologies, young people are participating in a range of activities, including social networking, blogging, vlogging, gaming, instant messaging, downloading music and other content, uploading and sharing their own creations, and collaborating with others in various ways. In this paper, we explore the ethical fault lines that are raised by such digital pursuits. We argue that five key issues are at stake in the new media, including identity, privacy, ownership and authorship, credibility, and participation. Drawing on evidence from informant interviews, emerging scholarship on new media, and theoretical insights from psychology, sociology, political science, and cultural studies, we explore the ways in which youth may be redefining identity, privacy, ownership, credibility, and participation as they engage with the new digital media. For each issue, we describe and compare offline and online understandings and then explore the particular ethical promises and perils that surface online. In the paper, we define “good play” as online conduct that is both meaningful and engaging to the participant and responsible to others in the community and society in which it is carried out. We argue that the new digital media, with all its participatory potentials, is a “playground” in which five factors contribute to the likelihood of “good play": the affordances of the new digital media; related technical and new media literacies; person-centered factors, ranging from cognitive and moral development to beliefs and values of a young person; peer cultures, both online and offline; and ethical supports, including the presence/absence of adult mentors and educational curricula. The proposed model sets the stage for an empirical study that will invite young people to share their personal stories of engagement with the new digital media.