Moblogging and belonging : new mobile phone practices and young people's sense of social inclusion

Late teens and young adults are prolific users of interactive and networked mobile media, and already possess a certain level of literacy with the capabilities of newer generation mobile phones. That is, they are well-attuned to the recent shift to user-generated micromedia; indeed, their communicative and media practices are characterized by information connectedness, small-scale digital content creation and peer-to-peer file sharing. This paper describes some of the background research to a research project entitled "Moblogging and Belonging" being undertaken jointly by researchers at Murdoch University and the University of Queensland. This project, funded by a Telstra Community Development Fund grant and scheduled for completion in 2009, aims to build on young people's existing mobile media skills by utilising the video capture and web capabilities of newer generation mobile phones, thus enabling them to creatively author, edit and publish their own 'quality' content around local/community events, stories and issues. In doing so, this project hopes to encourage young people to rethink their media practices as community-oriented rather than merely personal.