David Gauntlett and identity.

David Gauntlett and identity.

David Gauntlett is British he is a media theorist and sociologist, Gauntlett is dedicated  to studying contemporary audience of media also making and sharing the ideas of digital media and the role media takes on identity ad self expression. He gradated from the university of York, Gauntlett had a degree in socioloy and gained that in 1992, then in 2006 he joined the school of era, arts and design as a professor of media. Gauntlett has taken a idea and focus on the way digital media is changing the way and experience of media in audiences. 

In 2007, he published 'media 2.0' on the web. This argues that the classic media studies do not fully define when the categories of audience and producers intertwine and that the teaching method needs to be changed. Gauntlett blames the wide use of web 2.0 for blurring the lines between the audience and the producers, as due to websites like Youtube, the audience can now also become the producers, creating and distributing the content themselves. As a result of this, we can create our own identity and influence the identity of others.

Due to this certain change and the web 2.0, things such as gender identity has become much more less restricted, unlike previous representation. The use of the web 2.0 allow us to create our own idea of identity that doesn't have to conform to the traditional concepts of gender. This freedom created by the internet means that it is now far more acceptable and accept for our individuality.

In 2008, he put forth a proposal to rework audience studies. He argued that audiences have changed to come more active towards media rather than passive like they were before. Normally now, it is virtually impossible to tell how audience is going o react to a certain piece of media, therefore this could influence the way a media product is made and one, as a company or distributor might want to mimic what has been don by a previously successful product.