Marsh, J. (2015) ‘Unboxing’ videos: co-construction of the child as cyberflâneur. Discourse. ISSN 0159-6306
Abstract
This paper draws on data from a study of a four-year-old child, Gareth, in his first year of formal schooling in England. The aim of the study was to identify the nature of Gareth's literacy practices across home and school spaces. The focus for this paper is an analysis of one aspect of Gareth's home digital literacy practices: his repeated viewings at home of ‘unboxing’ videos on YouTube. These include videos that feature the unpacking of commercial products. It is argued that the child viewer/reader is co-constructed in these practices as cyberflâneur and that this mode of cultural transmission is a growing feature of online practices for this age group in the twenty-first century. The paper addresses issues concerning young children's online practices and their relationship to material culture before analysing the growth of interest in peer-to-peer textual production and consumption in the digital age.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Taylor & Francis. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Discourse. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | unboxing; digital literacy; popular culture |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Education (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Jan 2016 11:32 |
Last Modified: | 25 Dec 2016 22:54 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2015.1041457 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/01596306.2015.1041457 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:94116 |