The media are the gatekeepers between individuals and society. This was true for traditional media such as the printing press, radio and television, and it is even more true for the new online media. These media have an important artistic dimension: design, imagery and music play a major role in the way the message is packaged and received. Together, media therefore literally shape the way we experience the world. On the one hand, this question focuses on the influence of (new) media on children's development and the opportunities and threats these media offer young people. On the other hand, there is a large number of questions about the rise of social media and other new technologies and the ways in which they can contribute to the problem-solving capacity of individuals and society. A third group of questions relates to how to optimise the effectiveness of media communication.
Connecting character
Innovations in information and communication technology form the basis for new (mobile) means of communication and social networks that can connect people, independent of time and place. The current generation of these is mainly focused on bonding: bringing like-minded people together through friends, followers and likes. In addition, the overwhelming amount of information available via the internet creates a strong degree of selective exposure: people see, hear and consider things that resonate with existing attitudes and preferences. At the same time, issues at both micro and macro level about, for instance, health, the environment, democracy or innovation are more complex than ever. Solving these complex issues requires bridging in addition to bonding: bringing together groups with different interests, knowledge and opinions. How can processes of bonding and bridging via new technology generate information capital in addition to financial and social capital? And how do these new technologies relate to the arts and how to reflect on society from that perspective? After all, artistic interventions can contribute via imagination or narrativity to processes of social inclusion and exclusion or technological change, for instance, or play a role in social cohesion or otherwise be a steering factor in society. To understand how this works, we also need to know more about how web services enable people to share information and in turn influence communication.
