The Book, Television, and the Internet:
cultural phenomena of our time. On the other hand, Pierre Bourdieu (1997) points out that television is considered, in the common sense, an authority figure which legitimizes facts and renders credibility to that which it presents.
It is interesting to note that, in our research, the representation of television by most youths does not corroborate the above-mentioned line of thinking. Rather, it is seen as a symbol of frivolity and vulgarity whose main purpose is uncommitted entertainment. To quote them: too overwhelming and appealing; a source of enter- tainment; lacks creativity; alienation ; I only watch it when I am resting or when there is nothing better to do; a distraction and mostly a waste of time.
However, some youths noted the role television plays in broadcasting news in an almost instantaneous way, even though they are wary of its reliability. In their words:
easiest way to access knowledge whether it is useful or not; facilitates the fast dis- semination of news; a source of information which should be used with critical sense;
one should be cautious with the medium; manipulated by political influences.
Finally, the Internet, our main object of investigation, has as its commonest social representation, besides those described above about new media, its usefulness, the fact that it is a tool which helps us in our accomplishments.
In relation to the Internet, to a great number of the youths participating in the re- search, we also encountered adjectives such as fast and infinite, which highlight two valuable attributes of this communicational space and signal the dimension of this access mode to information in the view of our interviewees. This can be con- firmed by data obtained on services utilized by youths on the Internet: ranked first are search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.). To all them is also the great facilitator of communication. This is seen as its main use, along with research and access to information.
These considerations make us regard the Internet as a mythical representation of a web, since the web symbolizes all of humankind’s capabilities and virtualities, our searching and bringing to consciousness our most far-fetched memories. The web symbolizes a supernatural power given to an angel (Gabriel, in the Christian tradition) who then passionately searches for divinity. We therefore think that, by following this way of thinking, we can understand why the Internet exerts such fascination over those who browse through it. Its social representation is connected with the absolute power of reaching knowledge! On the other hand, we also believe that the strong connection made by the youths between the Internet and information/research is a reminder of Ted Nelson’s 1960 fantasy of creating Project Xanadu, which was supposed to bring to life the Decouverse, a global online library containing all of the world’s literature in hypertext (Sousa, 2006).
Finally, some other representations of the Internet by the youths were quite inter- esting in that they associated it with life in motion, which reminds us of the liquid and navigable dimension of this medium, as well as with communication: a good way to communicate with people; limitless communication; reaching several places
without leaving home. In fact, several studies, such as Pierre Lévy’s (1999), have portrayed infoways as travel and sailing pathways. On the Internet, one can travel on one’s fingertips, digitally... and in record time!
Conclusion
After careful analysis of the data provided by the research, one can notice that youths establish representations of new media which are sometimes, but not always, predict- able. This allows us to infer that the representations are forged based on everyday contact with patterns, values, attitudes, and socially established conventions which are built, torn down, and rebuilt all the time from socially constructed experience grounded in sociability and interaction.
Thus, we can conclude that the Internet is much closer to young university stu- dents because it can adequately match their everyday language, their knowledge, and their local experience. It is attuned to their time, which the university can no longer ignore.
On the other hand, one can also note that, at least in our research, analysis of data showed no significant difference among conceptions and opinions of university students from different social classes as regards how they use new media. Whatever their social class, and even those who belong to a generation not born under the spell of the Internet, university students are well aware of its positive and negative aspects, not only being affected passively. They possess critical judgement as well as a conscience of limits, advantages, and disadvantages.
Analysis of data from the Youths Online research allows us to assert that, in the world of representations, youths have a lot to tell us about how they ponder and understand the transformations they have participated in as subjects who live and operate with the reality of their times, our times.
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Endnotes
1 This is a not-for-profit private institution which stands out by produc- ing and transmitting knowledge based on respect for human values and Christian ethics, aiming above all at the benefit of society. Fur further information, access http://www.puc-rio.br.
2 This population was considered statistically significant, even when sorted by the students’ majors.
3 ProUni (University for All Program) was created by the Brazilian govern- ment in 2005 granting full and part-time scholarships for undergraduate courses to low-income students at private universities in exchange for some types of tax exemption. The implementation of ProUni, which added to the creation of 10 new federal universities and 48 new campuses, significantly increases the number of enrollments in higher education in Brazil, brings public education to the countryside and fights regional inequalities. All of these actions meet the goals established by Brazil’s National Educational Plan, which foresees that, by 2010, at least 30% of the population between the ages of 18 and 24 will be enrolled in higher education, as opposed to 10.4% currently.
4 According to a census carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2002, 72% of the Brazilian population owned at least one television set per household. For further information, go to http://www.ibge.gov.br.
5 Every phrase in italics is a literal transcription of the youths’ words.
6 Chevalier & Gheerbrant (1995), Rio de Janeiro: José Olímpio, 1995 9th edition.
7 This topic is also covered in Mamede-Neves, M.A C. O Jovem no centro da dimensão oculta da Internet In: Nicolaci-da-Costa, A. M. Cabeças digitais Rio de Janeiro: Loyola, 2006.
8 Commonly, a person who has had a better education is said to be “eru- dite,” “very intelligent,” “educated.”
9 This topic is also covered in Figueiredo-da-Costa, A. V; Fernandez, M. A.;
Pedrosa, S. M.; Mamede-Neves, M.A C. O livro e a Internet: representações do jovem universitário Rio de Janeiro: PUC-Rio, 2007 (in prelo).