ABSTRACT
The mental gestalt of the digital native contradicts any of the numerous empirical studies of who uses media technologies and how. The digital natives in the studies are representing themselves always in dialogue with imagined communities both online and in the areas where they live. The digital native communicates class inequalities by refocusing the attention on media users with buying power but without political power. In terms of media and social class, the term digital native has to be diversified to account for material differences in terms of technological access and education in order to see the diversity of digital native cultures. Favela em Danca and Noirlinians are projects that combine digital media with popular performances and Afro-urban cultures in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and New Orleans, USA, respectively. The chapter analyzes these projects using the sociocultural insights of Dell Hymes and Jesus Martin-Barbero around the importance of mediating alternative racial and class worldviews through popular media.
