New Media Practices in Brazil | Free, Social and Inclusive: Appropriation and Resistance of New Media Technologies in Brazil

Abstract

This article analyzes how new media are being appropriated within the Brazilian society. Exploring a range of new media practices—from the use of social network sites, microblogging, gaming, music, video production, and digital photography to youth media programs, LAN houses, and online communities—this article examines changes in the production, consumption, and distribution of new media in Brazil. Specifically, it explores different orientations around new media technology as they emerge in relation to government policies, (new) media industries and ordinary citizens interested in social interaction, entertainment, and information-gathering through new media technologies. I further reveal how three key concepts dominate attitudes and values around new media technologies: free, inclusive, and social. Connecting these values to theories of appropriation in the Latin American region, I conclude by exploring how new media practices reflect, produce, and reproduce Brazilian cultural norms among Brazilians.