Digital play and the Internet as ludic ecosystems. The hierarchy of media for entertainment and emergent literacies

In the body of research and proposals for action in media education, young people’s relationship with television has been the center of attention due to the ubiquity and influence of this medium in everyday life. We believe that such an approach should be reconsidered, as recent research (which has investigated not only the active media consumption by young citizens but also the hierarchy of media they establish in relation to their several interests) has revealed that, although the time they dedicate to watching television is greater than that dedicated to the Internet, the youth regard watching television as a habit “of the past,” whereas the personal computer is the device that fits their leisure needs and audiovisual consumption. In this sense, the data show that young people perceive television consumption as an activity related to common spaces within the household, supplied in a way that does not match their interests. Moreover, they perceive the media and content consumption through the Internet as a “freer” activity; that is, an activity less regulated by parents and better adapted to their social, cultural, and psychological needs (Aranda, Roca, & Sánchez-Navarro, 2013).