Digital detox of the youth (on the example of social networks)

Abstract

The article considers practices of using virtual social networks and attitudes of the student and working youth to the digital detox under the influence of objective and subjective factors (age, social status, competitiveness, social trust). The research was conducted with the survey of students (high school, vocational and higher education) and working youth in the Tyumen Region. The sample consisted of 10th-11th grade students (N=1130), university students (N=1097) and working youth (N=942). The results show that the main purpose of using social networks is to get new information (81%), entertaining video- and audio-content (72%); only 32% of students satisfy their educational needs. When getting older, the intensity of the youths search for identity decreases together with the desire to keep ones social status in the virtual reality. The high school students show the highest level of readiness for digital detox for a short period (84%), the long-term detox is more typical for the working youth (32% vs. a quarter in two other groups). The lower the level of the general social trust, the easier respondents choose digital detox from social networks. The results of the survey prove the following trend in using virtual social networks: those who accept a day detox are rarely ready for a month detox; those who accept a week detox from virtual communication consider it quite realistic to extend it to a month.