The MOTUS platform as a way of Contextualising Media Use Practices

In this paper, we present a state-of-the-art perspective on the measurement of media usage in time use research. We make the case for a cross-fertilization of time use and media studies in order to develop a more detailed conceptualisation of time spent with and through media. Consultation of media contents and devices are by default difficult to capture as a singular activity. The technological advances made over the last decade in the field of ICT have even further complicated the matter. There is the amalgamation of online and offline media to consider, as well as the dilution of private and public media activities. This implies that the context of use becomes increasingly important in media research, as it often instigates, constrains or determines the contents being consulted, as well as the devices being used. For the present study, we have tackled these issues from a theoretical and a methodological perspective.

We will first present the conceptual work done in refining existing categorisations of media activities, like the sensory categorisation used by the Dutch SCP and the device categories used by the Flemish Digimeter study. We focus on the challenges posed by the triple articulation of media, i.e. the fact that media should be understood as the articulation of content, device and context.

Secondly, we will focus on the operationalization of the categories of media activities and devices within the MOTUS modular time use survey model. We will discus the opportunities of this instrument in helping media and time use researchers alike to collect data about and develop insights in simultaneous media use (like second screens), the relation between media repertoires and media use and the socio-spatial context of media use.