Abstract -
As digital media have become integral parts of children’s lives, their overdependence on digital media has raised numerous concerns. As primary socialisation agents, parents are expected to play an active role in guiding and managing children’s digital media use, which is a principal focus of “parental mediation” research. In this seminar, I will discuss key insights I have gained from 10 years of research on parental mediation reflected in a recently published book Screen-Obsessed: Parenting in the Digital Age (2019). Specifically, my talk will address (1) young people’s use of digital media; (2) the impact of parental mediation on digital youth’s risk-taking behaviours; (3) factors influencing parental mediation practices and effectiveness; and (4) challenges and gaps in current parental mediation research. Key findings from recent studies conducted in multiple countries and their implications will also be shared and discussed.
Additional Information
Biography -
Wonsun Shin is Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests include youth and digital media, parental mediation, and marketing communications. Her work has been published in top-tier, high-impact communication journals, including New Media and Society, Communication Research, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, and Journal of Children and Media, among others. She is also an author of two books: Screen-Obsessed: Parenting in the Digital Age (World Scientific Publishing) and Integrated Marketing Communication: A Balanced Approach (Oxford University Press). She has received multiple research awards and recognitions from renowned international academic organizations, including five top paper awards. Dr. Shin serves on the Editorial Review Boards of the Journal of Advertising and the International Journal of Advertising. She has previously worked as an account research manager at Gallup & Robinson, an advertising and marketing research company in the U.S., and an Assistant Professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.