'Play' as an Epistemological Framework for Studying the Youth and the Smartphone Screen

Abstract: This essay will make an attempt to read theoretical, conceptual work and fieldwork observations which have pointed towards the possibility of developing a ‘play’ as an epistemological framework which can best ensconce the research question of this essay – how to study the youth and their experiences with the smartphone screen which cannot be neatly categorizes as media use and/or consumption? This is an important concern as the goals of Viksit Bharat include the mobilization of the youth in realizing the developmental goals of the country. The smartphone screen, and what the youth do with it, hence becomes a crucial element to be studied and understood. The new, handheld digital screens in particular can be seen as the site of emerging consumption practices and human interaction with the smartphone screen can be located in the discursive field of automation, mobility and sensorial experiences. The ontological and epistemological problem of categorizing media practices which cannot be neatly labelled as use or consumption have led to exploration of finding new frameworks, models and tools of examining contemporary media experiences. This paper will argue that an epistemological framework that factors in ‘playful’ nature of media consumption and use, can at least partially explain the use of new media by the youth, especially the smartphone screen, in producing ideas around culture and identity.