Generations as media audiences: An introduction

he Introduction to the Themed Section of Participations "Media Generations" aims at illuminating the relationship between media audiences, their media consumption cultures and the social formations called “generations”. The Introduction describes the cultural concept of generations and its relationships with media. The cultural concept of generation stresses the process of generational building (or “generationing” – Alanen 2001: 129) based on a synergy of temporal settings (e.g. events; historical context) and cultural experience. This process includes the “cultural uses of age, opportunities for identity building which people can take up and enhance or not” (Vittadini et al. 2013: 65) and the reciprocal construction of generations “by purifying their distinctive sets of practices” (Alanen 2001: 129). The Themed Section has been influenced by the inspirational cross working-group initiative meetings of the scholars working on the field of media and generations in COST Action IS0906 “Transforming Audiences, Transforming Societies”.