Perspectives on flash mobilization: The timeliness of mediatization and aging
With a focus on the province of Quebec, Canada, this article offers a critical reflection on mediatization and its potential for and relevance in contemporary societies, which are marked not only by advances in digital technology but also by the unprecedented aging of their populations. The article is also about aging: both with regard to the various configurations of aging in a world where a rising life expectancy engenders the growth of the older segment of the population and with regard to the relative invisibility of this phenomenon in the media and in media studies, which are still very much focused on youth and young people as their preferred subject. We propose to examine these issues from a cross-sectional perspective that was inspired by a flash mobilization. Our reflection aims to understand the relevance and timeliness on this flash mobilization at the point in time when it took place, as well as to grasp the broader historical issues that influence it and that it is a part of. In particular, our article questions timeliness.