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This article explores the ways in which what we call the analogue and the datafied mindsets perceive the functioning of the datafied world. Based on a qualitative interview study of two generations of media users in Estonia, Portugal, and Sweden, we present and analyze underlying patterns in participants’ media attitudes and related practices. We show that belonging to a media generation does not always produce a homogeneous mindset or a uniform attitude toward media technologies. These mindsets, being ideal-typical constructs, are not bound to individuals: the same person can display features of the analogue and the datafied mindset in relation to different parts of the datafied world. One mindset does not replace the other but rather adds another layer to the social action of the individuals. The mindsets are multi-dimensional and molded by contrasting understandings, indicating that the tenacious structures of the analogue world linger on in the datafied social space.

This dataset provides longitudinal survey data from a European project, ySKILLS, which was focused on the role of digital skills in youths’ development. It contains data from 10,821 participants from Grades 6–10 (in Wave 1) in Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. The data was collected between Spring 2021 and Spring 2023, the participants were recruited through schools, where the data collection also took place, except for online data collections due to restrictions caused by COVID-19. The dataset is novel in its multidimensional approach to the construct of digital literacy. It provides insight into the development of digital skills in youth and the role of digital skills and internet usage in youths’ positive and negative online experiences and wellbeing. It also contains data that allows for the analysis of the role of digital skills in class networks. The data are beneficial for researchers interested in the examination of youths’ online skills, internet usage, online experiences, and wellbeing from a longitudinal perspective.

What are the attitudes of online media users to the vast collection of personal data held by commercial platform companies? Do previous experiences of state surveillance have an impact on these attitudes? Do they differ for those brought up in the surveillance regime of Estonia during the Soviet Union era, or who experienced the surveillance apparatus in Portugal under authoritarian dictatorship? Do Swedish media users without authoritarian surveillance experiences differ in their attitudes to commercial surveillance? These questions are discussed in this final report from the project Social Media Surveillance and Authoritarianism (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, 2020–2023), a three-country comparative study (Estonia, Portugal, Sweden). The project aimed to analyse the role of past experiences of state surveillance on attitudes to dataveillance, that is, the commercial surveillance stemming from online media that is at the heart of data capitalism. The report accounts for the aims, objectives, theoretical and methodological points of departure and and presents empirical examples of the results.

Based on our experiences with implementing the comparative school-based ySKILLS survey in six European countries, this article investigates the preparation of fieldwork in school-based surveys. This includes the sampling strategies and recruitment of schools and (secondary level) students, the continuous collaboration with schools, as well as collecting parental consent. By interviewing the national survey experts, we found that previously described challenges of school-based survey research have become specifically relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results further show that collaborating with schools is demanding and that collecting active parental consent involves problems regarding a non-response bias as well as ethical concerns about children’s rights. For future research, we have identified seven general preconditions and facilitating factors regarding the recruitment and collaboration with schools for a successful implementation of school-based surveys. Regarding informed consent, we provide seven ethical and practical recommendations for research policy and future studies.

This paper discusses methodological, ethical, and empirical problematics related to forced changes in the research design of a comparative project during the Covid-19 pandemic, and its wider implications for future online audience research. The larger project aims to understand media users’ attitudes towards corporate and state surveillance in countries with different historical surveillance regimes: Estonia, Portugal, and Sweden. In a mixed-methods design, comprising an online survey and focus groups (FGs), we sampled participants from two generational cohorts: born in 1946-1953 and in 1988-1995. In each country, we planned six face-to-face FGs with people from these generational cohorts, divided into three gender-balanced groups with different profiles: higher education; mixed education, living in small cities/countryside; secondary education. The paper discusses the challenges of conducing FGs online, namely the effects of the technological interface on the group size and interaction, the importance of digital skills, and ethics-related considerations. Although we encountered cultural differences between the three countries, our main methodological lessons and suggestions for further audience studies center on the need to consider the subtle facets of inter-generational differences when planning online research. As we witnessed, not all barriers were rooted in access to technology and connectivity. The level of digital skills and self-confidence in use also played a role in participants' possibilities and willingness for taking part in online research. Further research is needed to explore how age and online methods intersect, and the role online settings play, in the experience of focus group and interview participants with various social backgrounds.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many research projects were forced to adapt their design and conduct interviews online. This paper discusses the benefits and challenges of using online focus groups with participants representing different generations and cultural and social backgrounds. Based on the researchers’ experiences and field notes from a three-country comparative project, aiming at analysing the extent to which previous experience of state surveillance impacted attitudes to commercial monitoring and tracking of online behaviour among two generational cohorts, the paper identifies seven aspects where the move from offline to online interviewing interfered with the original research design. The paper suggests that most of these interferences resulted in a need to adjust the methodology to better fit the online setting. We reflect critically upon the issues of technological preconditions and digital skills, recruitment, group size, degrees of previous acquaintance, the role of the interviewer, participants’ household status and media environment, and ethical considerations concerning privacy and data management. Based on these methodological insights, we conclude that future online focus group research would benefit from using smaller groups and adjusted moderation, flexibility in interviewing tools and channels, and new, online-specific ethical considerations when planning, executing, and analysing interviews. The paper advocates the complementarity between in-person and online focus groups as two modalities of data collection and argues for the normalization of hybrid methods. © The Author(s) 2023., Correspondence Address: G. Bolin; Media & Communication Studies, Department of Media & Communication Studies, Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden; email: goran.bolin@sh.se

This article compares surveillance-related experiences and attitudes of two generations of media users in countries with different historical surveillance regimes (Estonia, Portugal, and Sweden) and analyzes the predictors of the attitudes toward contemporary surveillance. A large-scale online survey (N = 3221) reveals that attitudes toward online state and corporate surveillance are interrelated; the two attitudinal components are, however, generation-specific, having different predictors. Tolerance toward state surveillance is more characteristic of the older group, being predicted by trustful and obedient attitudes toward state authorities and institutions. Tolerance toward corporate dataveillance is more characteristic of the younger group, being predicted by active and self-confident media use. While the socio-historical context molds the intergenerational gaps in surveillance-related experiences and attitudes, individual-level experiences of state surveillance do not predict tolerance toward either type of contemporary surveillance, suggesting that global techno-cultural developments are probably more powerful factors than past experiences in forming generation-specific attitudes.

"This article analyses the risk of receiving online sexual messages and experiencing harm among Estonian children. In particular, the paper examines the association between receiving sexual messages and behavioural, psychological and demographic characteristics, and the social mediation of children’s Internet use. Estonian data from ‘EU Kids Online’ survey are used, involving 780 children aged 11-16. Results demonstrate that 19% of children who use the Internet have received online sexual messages, and 6% have felt disturbed. The probability of receiving sexual messages online is higher for children with risky online and offline behaviour and psychological difficulties. Perceiving online messages as sexually harassing is higher among children with excessive Internet use, lower levels of parental monitoring and higher levels of peer mediation of Internet use. The risk of exposure to harassing sexual messages also differs by age and, more notably, by the minority status. Mediation by parents and teachers plays an insignificant role in reducing teenagers’ risks of receiving sexual messages." (author's abstract)

This report presents new findings and further analysis of the EU Kids Online 25-country survey regarding excessive use of the internet by children. It shows that while a number of children (29%) experienced one or more of the five components associated with excessive internet use, very few (1%) can be said to show pathological levels of use.

Civic and political participation (CPP) is often routinely operationalized through the same questions, as can be found in many related studies. While questions can be adapted in accordance with the research purposes, their psychometric properties are rarely addressed. This study examines the potential methodological problems in the measurement of CPP, such as the conflict between construct validity and measurement invariance, as well as unequal item functioning between some groups of people. We use the Rasch model to test 18 CPP questions for their relevance for the European youth population and to study differential item functioning between groups based on (1) age, (2) gender, (3) economic satisfaction and (4) country of living. We discovered that CPP questions are strongly connected with the cultural and social context and can discriminate against some groups of people. The results demonstrate the need to develop more culturally responsive methods to study CPP and the paper offers suggestions on how to do so.

This report updates and deepens the understanding of cross-national differences among the countries surveyed in EU Kids Online. Where the previous classification was based simply on the percentage of children in each country who used the internet daily, and who had encountered one or more risks, this report examines the range and type of online opportunities, risks and harm experienced by the children in each country. It also takes into account the ways in which parents mediate or regulate their children’s internet use in each country.

This report presents new findings and further analysis of the EU Kids Online 25 country survey regarding excessive use of the internet by children. It shows that while a number of children (29%) have experienced one or more of the five components associated with excessive internet use, very few (1%) can be said to show pathological levels of use.

This dataset provides longitudinal survey data from a European project, ySKILLS, which was focused on the role of digital skills in youths’ development. It contains data from 10,821 participants from Grades 6-10 (in Wave 1) in Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. The data was collected between Spring 2021 and Spring 2023, the participants were recruited through schools, where the data collection also took place, except for online data collections due to restrictions caused by COVID-19. The dataset is novel in its multidimensional approach to the construct of digital literacy. It provides insight into the development of digital skills in youth and the role of digital skills and internet usage in youths’ positive and negative online experiences and wellbeing. It also contains data that allows for the analysis of the role of digital skills in class networks. The data are beneficial for researchers interested in the examination of youths’ online skills, internet usage, online experiences, and wellbeing from a longitudinal perspective.