Dr. Claudia Lampert examines changing usage practices and possible implications for socialization research in the chapter “Growing Up in Data-Intensive and Automated (Media) Environments” of the handbook “Media Socialization in ‘Smart’ Environments. Self- and Social Development in the Context of Datafication and Automation,” edited by Laura Sūna and Wolfgang Reißmann.
The handbook “Mediensozialisation in ,smarten‘ Umgebungen. Selbst- und Sozialwerdung im Kontext von Datafizierung und Automatisierung [Media Socialization in ‘Smart’ Environments. Self- and Social Development in the Context of Datafication and Automation]”, including the article “Aufwachsen in datenintensiven und automatisierten (Medien-)Umgebungen” [Growing Up in Data-Intensive and Automated (Media) Environments], is only available in German. You can purchase it here.
Summary of the Chapter
Smart devices and AI applications are becoming an integral part of the everyday lives of children and young people, fundamentally changing how they use media. While these applications offer many practical and efficient uses, e.g., in education, they also raise questions about data protection, security, and the long-term effects on socialization. However, studies that adequately consider usage practices in changed, data-intensive, and automated media environments are lacking. This text discusses changing usage practices and their potential implications for socialization research. It emphasizes the necessity of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary long-term studies to critically and formatively address this profound change.
About the Handbook
The processes of datafication and automation are profoundly restructuring media and everyday life. A variety of data infrastructures, ranging from digital platforms to sensor media, are driving this development. These changes are altering the conditions of self- and socialization, often occurring unquestioned and “behind the backs of the subjects.” For media socialization research, questions of growing up, creative freedom, and agency are entirely novel. This volume addresses this new situation by reevaluating relevant approaches and using empirical case studies and object-related analyses.
Lampert, Claudia (2026): Aufwachsen in datenintensiven und automatisierten (Medien-)Umgebungen [Growing Up in Data-Intensive and Automated (Media) Environments]. In: Sūna, Laura, Reißmann, Wolfgang (Hrsg.): Mediensozialisation in „smarten“ Umgebungen Selbst- und Sozialwerdung im Kontext von Datafizierung und Automatisierung [Media Socialization in ‘Smart’ Environments. Self- and Social Development in the Context of Datafication and Automation]. Wiesbaden: Springer. ISBN 978‑3‑658‑50215‑7.