OBILJEŽJA KORIŠTENJA SNAPCHATA KOD ZAGREBAČKIH SREDNJOŠKOLACA

Abstract

CHARACTERISTICS OF »SNAPCHAT« USE AMONG ZAGREB HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ABSTRACT In the last decade, social networks have become one of the most important »technological tools« in the lives of people around the world, used mainly by adolescents (especially girls). Currently, the most widely used ones are Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. This paper aims to explore the characteristics of Snapchat use among high school students in the City of Zagreb, mainly due to its great popularity, the amount of time spent on this social network, and possible psychosocial risks, mainly due to its great popularity, but also due to the lack of domestic literature in this field. A total of 825 students participated in the study (NB=404; NG=418; 3 students did not provide gender information), and the age range was from 14 to 20 years (Mage=16.65; SDage=1.208). The results show that over 80% of high school students use Snapchat, and the differences in frequency of use were found in terms of gender, age, i.e., grade, and type ofschool. Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are the most popular social networks among Zagreb high school students, and the use of one of these networks is moderately related to the use of the others, so the resultsspeak offor a preferred and dominantsocial network that is used more often than others. In conclusion, no differences in the severity of Internet addiction were found in relation to the frequency of Snapchat use. The results obtained allow a better understanding of the characteristics of the use of thissocial network among high school students and are interpreted in the context of the current challenges of scientific research and the possibility of developing psychosocial interventions. Key words: Snapchat; social networks; adolescents; high school students; Internet addiction.