gBDkI

2.2.2 Internet, new technologies and other media
The appearance and rapid diffusion of new technologies (Internet, social networks, the
consequent 2.0 logic, etc.) have further enriched the landscape of participation patterns,
interaction and virtual participation (see Map 3). A first model of the three-fold distinction in
forms of participation considers participation via attendance, personal participation and
participation via the media (McCarthy et al., 2001a). Distinguishing between these modes of
involvement is also important for those who produce culture, since the pattern of participation
chosen influences the demand for artistic/cultural forms and the ways individuals may
choose to experience them (Ibid).
Figure 2. U.S. National Endowment of the Arts’ framework for cultural participation
Cultural literacy
Participatory
cultural practice
Professional
cultural
goods and
services
The U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (Novak et al., 2011) has suggested a multi-modal
framework for understanding arts participation (see Figure 2) which accounts for
participation across three – different and possibly overlapping – modes: arts creation or
performance, arts engagement through media, and attendance at a broader array of
activities. Cultural participation practices have evolved in the past few years and now form a
core part of the “cultural ecology” model (Kreidler and Trounstine, 2005) where it is
understood as the “engagement of individuals and groups in cultural activities in a nonprofessional
setting”.
However, new technologies and media play a key role, not just in participation, but actually in
each and every step of the six-stage journey leading the audience from awareness through
research, booking and preparation, to the event and following it (Australian Council for the
Arts, 2011).
The Internet, social media and other technologies are not replacing – but rather extending –
the field for cultural participation, and there is evidence that participation via the media
encourages face to face participation, especially for some groups of the population (for
instance, older people, some ethnic groups, disabled people, single mothers with children, or
people living in rural areas) (NEA, 2011). They facilitate access to a variety of content, as
well as exposure to and random exploration of new content or contents unrelated to the
original object of the search (Osservatorio Culturale del Piemonte, 2010). Virtually infinite
possibilities of access, exploration and use of cultural content, and more and more
customised practices (in terms of time and space for access), have created brand new
cultural diets, unpredictable and (roughly) definable only through neologisms. The distinction
between “high/élite” and “low/popular” is now replaced by the opposition between
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