Toward a typology of young produsers: teenagers’ transmedia skills, media production, and narrative and aesthetic appreciation

Abstract

Based on the qualitative analysis of data from workshops and interviews with teenagers from eight countries, this article aims to determine the degrees of productive, narrative, and aesthetic knowledge that teenagers put into practice when they create their media contents. From a theoretical framework that links teens, informal learning environments, and participatory cultures, the findings point toward three types of teenage produsers: casual, aspirational, and expert. Each type is representative of different aspects of production in terms of the types of media contents produced; the planning of the production process; the application of narrative and aesthetic values when creating; and the motivations behind the production. The study concludes with an invitation to rethink what participatory culture means in the light of teenagers’ production practices.