THE DIGITAL CHILDHOOD INDUSTRY

Resumen

Many children lead lives that are heavily influenced by the digital world, whether that’s through digital products, services, and practices made for them, or made about them. For children and their families, their digital childhood is mediated across many dimensions, including play, learning, communication and the everyday routines of family life. In this panel, we examine some of the ways digital childhood is mediated through Industry. In particular, we explore the ways that children, their families, policymakers and the wider public all contribute to the construction of, what can be thought of as, the ‘digital childhood industry’. This panel is concerned with the myriad ways that digital industries both benefit and are challenged by practices of children, their families, and policymakers. The papers in the panel are purposely diverse to showcase the breadth of the digital childhood industry. Each paper has a focal point on children, the internet, and the industry that often mediates the relationship between the two. From critically examining children’s play on Roblox, surfacing policymaker discourses about children's social media, exploring children’s perspectives on video games, showcasing the digital labour of contemporary parenthood, and investigating children’s digital play and wellbeing, this panel highlights the digital childhood industry from several starting points.