Media consumption between dynamics and persistence: The meaning of persistent media practices in a mediatized everyday life

Abstract

Qualitative reception studies have shown that new media neither radically change people’s media repertoires, nor do they replace the old. Established media practices remain relevant, and users actively persist on old media (technologies). To show why and how this persistence is embedded by its users, the paper at hand addresses old media persistence from a user’s and appropriation perspective. Thus, following the mediatization approach, we enfold the concept of the interplay of dynamics and persistence and transfer its theoretical ideas to two studies that deal with (1) the persistence of the TV in everyday media repertoires and (2) the persisting usage of vinyl records in the face of digital streaming services in everyday life. Our aim is to illuminate why and how users, on the one hand, persist on established media practices, but on the other hand, simultaneously combine them meaningfully with new media (practices) within their respective everyday lives.