Investigating the domestication of convergent mobile media and mobile internet by children and teens: preliminary issues and empirical findings on opportunities and risks

The paper, starting with some preliminary considerations about the new mobile media ecology, in which today's children live, and with some data about the diffusion of mobile internet and smartphones among children, aims to focus on three main points. I first ponder the new opportunities and new risks arising for children from the diffusion of such technologies, and the related usage practices, looking at some preliminary empirical findings, coming from qualitative researches I conducted with some of my colleagues from OssCom (Giovanna Mascheroni and Maria Francesca Murru), about the domestication of smartphones, mobile social networking and location-based practices in the Italian youth context. Then, I explore the new challenges in parental mediation, starting from qualitative evidence gathered from Italian parents. I finish illustrating the contribution of the new European project Net Children Go Mobile towards filling the current knowledge gap regarding European children’s mobile internet and convergent mobile media use, risks and online safety.