Abstract:

Digital media are integrated into everyday life and digitally mediated production is transforming social environments, as it creates new mechanisms for socially interventional participation. Social media services have transformed the way people communicate and interact with others online. The Web is social: new platforms allow users to become prosumers. The key concept that describes the paradigm shift promoted by the social Web is simple: user-created content.

Digital competence is assumed as “a transversal key competence”, enabling the acquisition of other key competences” and has been broadly defined by the European Commission as “the confident, critical and creative use of ICT to achieve goals related to work, employability, learning, leisure, inclusion and/or participation in society”. In this paper, we assume digital competence as the skills that enable digital capital.

Assuming the focus on the dimensions and indicators to evaluate the levels of digital literacy, consumption and the perception of rights in the digital space, this paper evaluates a possible direct relation between practices and technical skills.

The objectives are to discuss if:
(1) the most common online activities induce digital practices that have direct relationships with creative and communication skills;
(2) the network sociability is related to technical skills.

In this paper, we present the results of the project "Digital rights: A password for the future", developed by a group of researchers from the Autonomous University of Lisbon in partnership with DECO, and we describe indicators of digital practices and consumption of young Portuguese students. By analysing the most common online activities, digital practices, digital consumptions and behaviours in social networks, our goal is to describe Millennium generation in an age of screens and mobility.

The research project "Digital Rights: A password for the future" was framed within the context of an 18 lecture series in district capitals of Portugal on consumptions, digital literacy and rights. The project aimed to identify digital literacy as well as practices and media consumption, understand perceptions of new media, explaining risk situations on the Internet and provide information about of rights and duties in the digital world.

The empirical research was carried out through an extensive-quantitative methodology, by applying a survey between March 2014 and January 2015 to 1814 students attending the Basic Education (3rd cycle), Secondary Education and Vocational Education in schools in 18 capitals of Portugal Continental districts.

The results show that nearly 90% of respondents surf the Internet every day. The three favourite activities in the digital world are listening to music online, watching movies/series/videos online and participating in social networks. There are very few students surveyed to identify content production and editing activities. Almost 65% of respondents claim to participate in social networks every day. Facebook is the social network most often identified. As expected, the daily demand for online news tends to increase as schooling increases. Search news online every day is still a minority practice: daily, 23.2% of respondents claim to do so. However, if we add to this value the search for online news at least once a week, the figure rises to 51.9%.

Keywords:

Digital Consumption, Digital Practices, Digital Media, Audiences Practices.