Pressure to Perform: The Influence of Participatory Culture on Digital Composition Practices

• In Event: 34.097 - Sheraton Roundtable Session Four - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 34.097-4 - Digital Composing: Navigating Collaboration, Performance, and Identity

Abstract

As the writing practices of youth shift toward online spaces it is important to consider the influence of participatory culture on digital media composition practices. In this paper, I present findings from a descriptive case study of an early adolescent writer engaged in an online programming community called Scratch. Specifically, I discuss the ways in which participatory culture influenced digital composition practices. Findings are structured within a narrative organization around the participant’s featured project in Scratch, which highlight Esme’s perceived pressure to perform and her progression from online to offline composition practices. This case study contributes to the multimodal narratives of experiences within participatory culture, thereby providing a complex perspective of online community and composition practices.

Author

• Julia Hagge, The Ohio State University - Marion