DOI: https://doi.org/10.17072/2078-7898/2022-2-305-314
Social networks’ influence on modern adolescents: key problems and destructive consequences
Olga V. Rogach
Candidate of Sociology,
Associate Professor of the Department of SociologyFinancial University under the Government of the Russian Federation,
49, Leningradsky av., Moscow, 125993, Russia;
e-mail: rogach16@mail.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3031-4575
ResearcherID: W-4432-2017
Elena V. Frolova
Doctor of Sociology,
Professor of the Department of SociologyFinancial University under the Government of the Russian Federation,
49, Leningradsky av., Moscow, 125993, Russia;
e-mail: efrolova06@mail.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8958-4561
ResearcherID: C-8429-2016
The paper deals with the results of an analysis conducted to reveal the influence of social networks on modern adolescents. A questionnaire survey of Moscow schoolchildren aged 15–18 years (N = 312) was used as the leading research method. It has been found that 59.2 % of adolescents prefer to spend their leisure time on social networks. Almost half of the respondents (42.7 %) can be classified as «extreme Internet users». Most schoolchildren are fully aware of the «abnormality» of this situation: more than half of them note that they spend more time on the Internet than they plan. At the same time, 57.2 % of adolescents sometimes prefer social networks to communication with their loved ones; 12.2 % do it frequently. For more than 65% of the respondents, the considerable amount of time they spent on social networks provokes serious conflicts in the family. For 57.2 % of the respondents, the virtual world seems to be a source of «good mood». Every second teenager notes «pressure» and «negativity» from parents with regard to their frequent use of social networks; every fifth has become more secretive in this matter, trying to prevent their family from noticing them visiting social networks. The research leads to the following conclusions: the amount of time spent by the majority of adolescents on social networks exceeds critical values. The destructive consequences of this situation are chronic lack of sleep, conflicts in the family, replacement of real communication with virtual. The situation is aggravated by the negative influence of social networks on the psyche and life in general, with adolescents being unconscious of that. Recognizing the presence of conflicts in the family, adolescents are not ready to abandon social networks in favor of real communication. Moreover, for many respondents, virtual communication becomes an integral trigger of good psychological well-being.
Keywords: social networks, Internet users, adolescents, virtual communication, conflicts, destructive consequences, educational institutions, survey.
References
Aftab, P. (2011). Cyberbullying: an interview with Parry Aftab. Educational Technology and Change Journal. 2011. Feb. 17. Available at: https://etcjournal.com/2011/02/17/7299/ (accessed 12.01.2022).
Bochaver, A.A., Dokuka, S.V., Sivak, E.V. and Smirnov, I.B. (2019). [Internet use and depressive symptoms in adolescents: a review]. Klinicheskaya i spetsial’naya psikhologiya [Clinical Psychology and Special Education]. Vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 1–18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpse.2019080301
Chelysheva, I.V. (2014). [Social networks in the life of modern schoolchildren]. Mediaobrazovanie [Media Education]. No. 2, pp. 121–126.
Chu, S.K.W., Lau, W.W.F., Chu, D.S.C., Lee, C.W.Y. and Chan, L.L.H. (2014) Media awareness among Hong Kong primary students. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. Vol. 48, iss. 1, pp. 90–104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000614551448
Efimova, G.Z. and Semenov, M.Yu. (2020). [Digital detox of youth (on the example of social networks)]. Vestnik Rossiyskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Sotsiologiya [RUDN Journal of Sociology]. Vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 572–581. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2272-2020-20-3-572-581
Giumetti, G.W., McKibben, E.S., Hatfield, A.L., Schroeder, A.N. and Kowalski, R.M. (2012). Cyber incivility @ work: The new age of interpersonal deviance. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking. Vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 148–154. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0336
Kiryakova, N.A. (2017). [The influence of social networks on the development of communication skills of adolescents]. Nauchno-metodicheskiy elektronnyy zhurnal «Kontsept» [Scientific and Methodological Electronic Journal «Koncept»]. Vol. T29, pp. 161–168.
Konakh, S.A. (2018). [The negative impact of social networks on children and adolescents]. Psikhologiya, sotsiologiya i pedagogika [Psychology, Sociology and Pedagogy]. No. 5. Available at: http://psychology.snauka.ru/2018/05/8589 (accessed 12.01.2022).
Koroleva, D.O. (2015). [The use of social networks for the purposes of education and socialization of a teenager: an analytical review of empirical research (international experience]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie [Psychological Science and Education]. Vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 28–37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/pse.2015200104
Kushzhanov, N.V., Maydangalieva, Z.A., Almurzaeva, B.K., Summers, D.G. and Utemissova, G.U. (2019). Digital dementia. Cyberbullying and digital addiction. News of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Series of Social and Human Sciences. Vol. 1, no. 323, pp. 5–15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32014/2019.2224-5294.1
Küter-Luks, T., Heuvelman, A. and Peters, O. (2011). Making Dutch pupils media conscious: preadolescents’ self-assessment of possible media risks and the need for media education. Learning, Media and Technology. Vol. 36, iss. 3, pp. 295–313. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2010.549826
Lunyushkina, M.V., Zelenskaya, D.V. and Tvelova, I.A. (2018). [The influence of the Internet on a teenager]. Nauchnyy forum: Pedagogika i psikhologiya: sb. st. po materialam XV Mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. konf. [Scientific Forum: Pedagogy and Psychology: Materials of the 15th International scientific and practical conference]. No. 2(15), pp. 71–74.
Papatsimouli, M., Skordas, J., Lazaridis, L., Michailidi, E., Saprikis, V. and Fragulis, G. (2019). Cyberbullying and traditional bullying in Greece: an empirical study. SHS Web of Conferences. Vol. 102. Available at: https://www.shs-conferences.org/articles/shsconf/abs/2021/13/shsconf_etltc2021_04012/shsconf_etltc2021_04012.html (accessed: 14.01.2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202110204012
Pyankova, N.G. and Matviyuk, V.M. (2014). [The influence of the global Internet on the psyche of adolescents]. Nauchno-metodicheskiy elektronnyy zhurnal «Kontsept» [Scientific and Methodological Electronic Journal «Koncept»]. Vol. S30, pp. 36–40.
Reid, G. and Norris, S.P. (2016) Scientific media education in the classroom and beyond: a research agenda for the next decade. Cultural Studies of Science Education. Vol. 11, iss. 1, pp. 147–166. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-015-9709-1
Semenov, M.Yu. (2018). [Virtual competitiveness: youths’ views]. Obrazovanie i nauka [Education and Science]. Vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 100–116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17853/1994-5639-2018-3-100-116
Sobkin, V.S. and Fedotova, A.V. (2018). [Adolescent in social networks: on the issue of social psychological well-being]. Natsional’nyy psikhologicheskiy zhurnal [National Psychological Journal]. No. 3(31), pp. 23–36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11621/npj.2018.0303
Solodnikov, V.V. and Zaytseva, A.S. (2021). [Usage of social networks and socialization of Russian teenagers]. Sotsiologicheskaya nauka i sotsial’naya praktika [Sociological Science and Social Practice]. Vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 23–42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/snsp.2021.9.1.7870
Received: 13.12.2021. Revised: 01.04.2022. Accepted: 15.04.2022
For citation:
Rogach O.V., Frolova E.V. [Social networks’ influence on modern adolescents: key problems and destructive consequences]. Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Filosofia. Psihologia. Sociologia [Perm University Herald. Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology], 2022, issue 2, pp. 305–314 (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17072/2078-7898/2022-2-305-314