Mediaccions

Abstract

L'extensió de les tecnologies de la informació i de la comunicació i la popularització d'eines i plataformes de producció i difusió audiovisuals ha afavorit que en els darrers anys s'hagi produït una autèntica explosió de creacions realitzades al marge dels circuits institucionals i industrials de la cultura.

La extensión de las tecnologías de la información y de la comunicación y la popularización de herramientas y plataformas de producción y difusión audiovisuales ha favorecido que en los últimos años se haya producido una auténtica explosión de creaciones realizadas al margen de los circuitos institucionales e industriales de la cultura.

This article describes the activities of the Mediaccions research group, which studies digital culture and changes in cultural practices as mediated by technology, focusing, in particular, on the internet and the new media. The study of digital culture covers a wide range of agents, practices and material and narrative devices linked to contemporary cultural production, all of which we examine from an empirical, qualitative and interdisciplinary perspective. Our current research includes analysis of emerging creative practices in which individuals participate in content creation; this covers anything from video and photography production to collaborative cinema and co-creation by users, artists and the culture industry. In terms of the culture circuit, we examine not only tensions in the fields of production, distribution, regulation and consumption, but also in identities, subjectivities and forms of sociability that arise in the relationship between users and the information and communication technologies. We explore embodiment and gender issues in digital interactions, the subjective experience of social agents in technological design and the generation of collective identities using technology, as happens with bloggers and activists who use the web as a tool for social change.