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The present study analyzes the evolution of the concept of the digital gap with the elderly from the perspective of active ageing and in the context of the use of online social networks as a communication instrument. We consider that socio-demographic variables are not enough to explain the elderly's use or non-use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Psychological variables, such as cognitive age, technology anxiety and the level of venturousness complement the former and can even explain more the elderly person's behaviour regarding the use of online social networks. The results come from a sample of elderly people who are students of an Experience Classroom in a university. They allow us to confirm that our doubts about the stereotype of the elderly concerning the digital divide are correct and that the psychological variables serve to a greater extent to show the significant differences with respect to determining their profile. The elderly user of online social networks feels younger, experiences a lower level of technology anxiety and is more adventurous. In general, psychological characteristics therefore offer a more discriminant power than those that are socio-demographic. This is why we propose the concept of a psycho-digital divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the analysis of the role that social networks play in civic, social mobilization and solidarity of Spanish young people, considering whether social networks are responsible for active social commitment offline or if they just intensify an existing or previous tendency towards social participation. This research was undertaken by online questionnaire --Likert scale and multiple choice questions-- in collaboration with the Spanish social network Tuenti where more than 1,300 young people took part. The results show significant percentages of participation exclusively online although there were more than 80% of young people, in a way or another, involved in actions to which they were called by social networks. The study analyzes the forms of participation in solidarity actions and the influence of factors such as geographical, social or emotional proximity to causes on the degree of participation online and offline. The article shows that social networks have changed the meaning of participation. They are encouraging young people who were mobilized only in social networks, to take action, so it proposes in its conclusions the need to overcome the dichotomy that opposes online and offline activism and passivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research analyzes the power of the Internet and social networks in the Arab uprisings. We are interested in learning about the contribution of communication technology in low advanced societies in conflict situations and the value of the network as a link between young people who supported the changes from abroad and those who were directly involved in protests. On the importance of technology as a virtual communication tool we have conducted a series of online interviews with 30 young people from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya living in Barcelona, Madrid and Santiago de Compostela during the development of the conflicts and who were involved in the Arab Spring though the network. The research findings in this study prove that virtual support for uprisings were not based on coordinated actions, and that it was simply a confluence of similar acts coinciding in time and on the same platforms. The Internet and social networks served as elements for supporting the process and as a counter-balance to official censorship and to government-supportive media, and were useful for overcoming the isolation of Arab society, in order to make the conflicts visible and to attract relevant support from abroad. But it also showed that the network had constraints in the face of the consolidated propaganda infrastructure which existed in each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although social networking websites (SNSs, especially Facebook) have become highly popular with youths, some university students do not want to participate in such sites. This study explores the underlying reasons for high-tech university students' non-use of social networking websites. The study group (n=20) consisted of 18 to 25-year-old undergraduate students, who were selected by the purposive sampling method. Data were collected from two large state universities in Turkey. Facebook, as one of the most popular social networking websites, was selected as a study context. Qualitative research methods were used in the data collection and analysis processes. The primary reasons for not using social networking websites were that they were perceived to be a waste of time, or an unnecessary tool; that they might lead to an addiction; that they might violate privacy concerns or share unnecessary information; and that they might invoke family concerns. Additionally, the findings indicated that most of the students did not trust virtual friendships, and did not like sharing photographs and political views online. This identification of non-user students' attitudes about SNSs will help us to better understand individual perceptions and experiences relating to these social services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper aims to analyze how certain Facebook settings, model of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), have turned into an infringement of some existing privacy Ethical principles. This totally changed and modern paradigm has its clearest expression in recent Web 2.0, and omnipotent Communication Technology, and implies the reconsideration of each Ethical Principles, especially those related to Intimacy and Image Protection. Our research explains not just how these areas are affected by technological changes but also the way these imperative ethical principles are violated because users ignorance and confidence. This carefree attitude and the increasing communicative relevance have given networking precedence over Intimacy protection. The result of this action has been denominated «Extimacy» according to the author Jacques Lacan, a concept which can be translated as public Intimacy through networking activities, namely, exposed Intimacy. The goal we aim to achieve is to illustrate the different ways our Privacy can be damaged by some Facebook measures (as Privacy Policies Change, collecting tendencies of consumption, the use of private data and revealing users confidence). Likewise these arguments will be endorsed by international researches focused on Facebook privacy violations, which we are going to expose to understand how citizens can carry out different actions to defend our Intimacy and Image Rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of adolescent self-presentations in Fotolog. The images which these adolescents create and share through the Net focus on the construction of the Self. Here gender and sexuality become the main structuring factors of representation. Results point to the fact adolescents self-presentations mirror some of the categories defined by Goffman in his study of gender hyperritualization in advertising. Moreover, other gender expressions are found in the sample, such as the lesbian pose or the erotization of bodies which Gill also detects in advertising. Despite the fact that the images that adolescents upload in Social Networking Sites reproduce gender stereotypes and patriarchal patterns based in advertising, it must be said that they also elaborate a relatively varied repertoire of pictures and are able to conceive original creations. These creative self-representations are the outcome of a process of negotiation of gender and sexual identity which occurs in these settings, as well as in other adolescent media practices. To avoid a thoughtless reproduction of gender stereotypes and contribute to a critical negotiation of these representations, media education is needed. This media education should take into account the way in which adolescent practices are shaped by other media consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to study in depth the changes taking place in the habits of adolescents using online communication, particularly due to the dramatic arrival of social networks in their daily lives, and the sociocultural implications of these processes. The research methodology focuses on a self-administered questionnaire applied nationally. Based on the results of a survey of a representative national sample of 2,077 adolescents (12 to 17-year-olds), this study has sought to update the information about online practices among Spanish adolescents, specifically with regard to the remarkable development of social networks. Similarly, the behavior of both regular users of social networks and of non-regular users has been compared, with the aim of detecting the influence of social network use on general online life, and we have considered the following variables: gender, age, funding type of the educational establishment and social class. Among the main conclusions of the study, we emphasize a more intensive use of the Internet as regards time and activities by those who are more frequent users of social networks, and especially the activities they carry out to keep in touch and share content with their equals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the «black holes» of academic research in Communication is the shallowness of reflections on the classic origins of Communication, its aims and points of entry. In this respect, the study of communicative processes on the Internet becomes particularly relevant (specifically the social networks processes) when observed from the classic rhetorical perspective. We focus on the use of persuasion strategies (ethos, pathos, logos) as well as the abundant use of rhetorical figures. Such parameters, along with the resources that emergent technologies offer, unleash creativity and afford humanist aspects to network communication. These give on-line platforms an extremely persuasive strength. Thus, we may speak of the network user of the 21st century as the new «Rhetorician». Our research on Facebook addresses the presence of rhetoric in online social network communication: the user of these platforms applies communicative strategies described by the Rhetoricians dating back to Greco-Roman antiquity. The methodology in this work (the study of three typified cases and the content analysis of conversations generated on Facebook walls) allows us to intertwine rhetoric and communication today, mediated by the emergence of online networks. We propose the retrieval of certain parameters of deep, critical thought to the benefit of a more human communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a study on the use of social networks among young Andalusians. The main objectives are to know the uses of social networks, their frequency and the motives behind their use. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The sample includes 1487 adolescents in Andalusia. The results show that young people, for the most part, consistently used social networks. We identified two motivational aspects in this use: one social and the other psychological. There are not significant gender differences in frequency of use, but rather in the motivations for access. Boys tend to be the more emotional type, while girls were dominated by a more relational motivation. The results show similarities with international researches in environments that vary greatly from the present work. The conclusions suggest the need for future lines of work. This study also identifies the implications of social network uses for active citizenship and participatory training and social integration. These results are also important for the enrichment of dimensions such as social capital development and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networks have become areas of social interaction among young people where they create a profile to relate with others. The way this population uses social networks has an impact on their socialization as well as the emotional and affective aspects of their development. The purpose of this investigation was to analyze how Facebook is used by young people to communicate among themselves and the experiences they gain from it. On the one hand, while teenagers claim to know the risks, they admit to accepting strangers as friends and to sharing large amounts of true data about their private lives. For this reason, it is necessary to understand the media and digital phenomenon that the youth are living through. Although they are legally prohibited from using Facebook until they are 13, the number of underage users of this social network is growing, without any restraint from parents or schools. This investigation compares the use of Facebook by youth in Colombia and Spain by using the content analysis and interview techniques. In Colombia 100 Facebook profiles were analyzed and 20 interviews carried out with students between 12- and 15-years-old attending the Institución Educativa Distrital Técnico Internacional school in Bogotá. In Spain, 100 Facebook profiles were analyzed and 20 interviews held with students of the same age group attending various secondary schools in Andalusia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution is justified by the necessity of analyzing the participative content that the interactive youth transmitted in the use of ICTs and social networks in the origin of the social movement of the Spanish Revolution. Our objectives have been focused on proving how young people feel, live and experience the democratic citizenship by means of audiovisual display systems, participating in public open spaces where a better informed digital citizenship is being formed among the technological convergence, hypertextuality and non linearity. We have tried to identify both the educational content of their interactions and implications and the use of audiovisual display systems in their organization as a group. The methodology we have used is the in-depth case study in the days when people occupied public spaces. We collected observations, interviews, information from the social networks (Twitter, Facebook, n-1, Tuenti), news in the media and also information, posters and photographs generated during the occupation by the participants themselves. From this techno-educational point of view we analyze how these young people widen their communicative relationships and get connected on line creating new meanings for educational, social and political issues. The analysis of their speeches shows us a reappropriation of the ICTs by these young people who express and communicate publicly and contributing in this way with new points of view for the citizenship education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the construct of community and its development in online spaces through a qualitative analysis of middle school students' participation in a private social network. Drawing on notions of community inspired by philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, we found that students, despite not knowing one another previously, were willing both to encounter and come to know each other, using the resources of the network to build the trust that became foundational to their online social relationships. They did so primarily through two kinds of interactional effort that we call «public work» and «proximity work». Negotiating their positions relative to one another (proximity work) and across public/private spaces (public work), youth used a variety of semiotic tools to establish relationships and address the considerable challenges of digitally mediated communication with unknown others. This study suggests that educationally focused social networks can be designed for, or their uses primed toward, communicative purposes and activities foregrounding reciprocal exchange that is ethically alert and socially aware, and that schools and other educational institutions, though historically resistant to technological innovation, have an important role to play in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teenagers and young adults are increasingly using social networks as a means to interact and participate in constructing a multiple speech. Companies take direct options with followers in networks and use these virtual structures to approach their target. The purpose of this paper is to study, using empirical and observational methodology, how to build «Coca-Cola» brand image in «Tuenti», followed by the network over the public sector. Among other things, we will see how involved the brand and how followers, what are the issues that are introduced on the inputs and through what kind of formats. In conclusion, we noted that the interest in the brand of free speech to let the followers is just a strategy, the actual entries of «Coca-Cola» are very rare but they all have a high effect, a language that challenges the user to activate and resume his speech so directed. Moreover, there is no mechanism differentiating between information, entertainment and advertising, which combined with continued exposure to advertising impacts across different formats, leads us to propose the need for media education to encourage responsible use critic and social networks by young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies on youth and social networks have generally revealed extensive usage of these Internet services, widespread access from almost any location and the special importance that the youth attach to these services in building their social relations. This article presents part of the analyses and results from a research questionnaire on «Scenarios, digital technologies and youth in Andalusia», administered to a population of 1,487 youth between the ages of 13 and 19. The discussion on young Andalusians and social networks revolves around the structure and configuration of their profiles, intended uses and the privacy and security involved. The results reveal a population with nearly unlimited access to social networks and with very little adult monitoring; moreover, those connecting are younger than the legal minimum age defined by the Internet services themselves. The motivations of Andalusian youth for using social networks fall into three areas. The first two, social and psychological/affective motivations, are also commonly found in other studies; the third refers to the need to use social networks in matters concerning everyday life. This paper suggests certain new aspects in its conclusions in order to explain the nature and meaning of the practices of Andalusian youth in social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution is justified by the necessity of analyzing the participative content that the interactive youth transmitted in the use of ICTs and social networks in the origin of the social movement of the Spanish Revolution. Our objectives have been focused on proving how young people feel, live and experience the democratic citizenship by means of audiovisual display systems, participating in public open spaces where a better informed digital citizenship is being formed among the technological convergence, hypertextuality and non linearity. We have tried to identify both the educational content of their interactions and implications and the use of audiovisual display systems in their organization as a group. The methodology we have used is the in-depth case study in the days when people occupied public spaces. We collected observations, interviews, information from the social networks (Twitter, Facebook, n-1, Tuenti), news in the media and also information, posters and photographs generated during the occupation by the participants themselves. From this techno-educational point of view we analyze how these young people widen their communicative relationships and get connected on line creating new meanings for educational, social and political issues. The analysis of their speeches shows us a reappropriation of the ICTs by these young people who express and communicate publicly and contributing in this way with new points of view for the citizenship education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the construct of community and its development in online spaces through a qualitative analysis of middle school students' participation in a private social network. Drawing on notions of community inspired by philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, we found that students, despite not knowing one another previously, were willing both to encounter and come to know each other, using the resources of the network to build the trust that became foundational to their online social relationships. They did so primarily through two kinds of interactional effort that we call «public work» and «proximity work». Negotiating their positions relative to one another (proximity work) and across public/private spaces (public work), youth used a variety of semiotic tools to establish relationships and address the considerable challenges of digitally mediated communication with unknown others. This study suggests that educationally focused social networks can be designed for, or their uses primed toward, communicative purposes and activities foregrounding reciprocal exchange that is ethically alert and socially aware, and that schools and other educational institutions, though historically resistant to technological innovation, have an important role to play in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networks have become areas of social interaction among young people where they create a profile to relate with others. The way this population uses social networks has an impact on their socialization as well as the emotional and affective aspects of their development. The purpose of this investigation was to analyze how Facebook is used by young people to communicate among themselves and the experiences they gain from it. On the one hand, while teenagers claim to know the risks, they admit to accepting strangers as friends and to sharing large amounts of true data about their private lives. For this reason, it is necessary to understand the media and digital phenomenon that the youth are living through. Although they are legally prohibited from using Facebook until they are 13, the number of underage users of this social network is growing, without any restraint from parents or schools. This investigation compares the use of Facebook by youth in Colombia and Spain by using the content analysis and interview techniques. In Colombia 100 Facebook profiles were analyzed and 20 interviews carried out with students between 12- and 15-years-old attending the Institución Educativa Distrital Técnico Internacional school in Bogotá. In Spain, 100 Facebook profiles were analyzed and 20 interviews held with students of the same age group attending various secondary schools in Andalusia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas most studies of learning explore intra-institutional experiences, our interest is to track individual learning trajectories across domains. Research on young people's use of different media outside schools shows how practices of using digital media are different from practices in schools in both form and content. The major challenge today, however, is to find ways of understanding the interconnections and networking between these two lifeworlds as experienced by young people. Important elements here are adapted concepts like context, trajectories and identity related to activity networks. We will present data from the ongoing «learning lives project» in a multicultural community in Oslo. We will especially focus on students of Media and Communication studies at upper secondary school level. Using an ethnographic approach we will focus on how learners' identities are constructed and negotiated across different kinds of learning relationships. The data will consist of both researcher-generated data (interviews, video-observations, field notes) and informant-generated data (photos, diaries, maps). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teenagers and young adults are increasingly using social networks as a means to interact and participate in constructing a multiple speech. Companies take direct options with followers in networks and use these virtual structures to approach their target. The purpose of this paper is to study, using empirical and observational methodology, how to build «Coca-Cola» brand image in «Tuenti», followed by the network over the public sector. Among other things, we will see how involved the brand and how followers, what are the issues that are introduced on the inputs and through what kind of formats. In conclusion, we noted that the interest in the brand of free speech to let the followers is just a strategy, the actual entries of «Coca-Cola» are very rare but they all have a high effect, a language that challenges the user to activate and resume his speech so directed. Moreover, there is no mechanism differentiating between information, entertainment and advertising, which combined with continued exposure to advertising impacts across different formats, leads us to propose the need for media education to encourage responsible use critic and social networks by young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies on youth and social networks have generally revealed extensive usage of these Internet services, widespread access from almost any location and the special importance that the youth attach to these services in building their social relations. This article presents part of the analyses and results from a research questionnaire on «Scenarios, digital technologies and youth in Andalusia», administered to a population of 1,487 youth between the ages of 13 and 19. The discussion on young Andalusians and social networks revolves around the structure and configuration of their profiles, intended uses and the privacy and security involved. The results reveal a population with nearly unlimited access to social networks and with very little adult monitoring; moreover, those connecting are younger than the legal minimum age defined by the Internet services themselves. The motivations of Andalusian youth for using social networks fall into three areas. The first two, social and psychological/affective motivations, are also commonly found in other studies; the third refers to the need to use social networks in matters concerning everyday life. This paper suggests certain new aspects in its conclusions in order to explain the nature and meaning of the practices of Andalusian youth in social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of a study on the use of social networks among young Andalusians. The main objectives are to know the uses of social networks, their frequency and the motives behind their use. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The sample includes 1487 adolescents in Andalusia. The results show that young people, for the most part, consistently used social networks. We identified two motivational aspects in this use: one social and the other psychological. There are not significant gender differences in frequency of use, but rather in the motivations for access. Boys tend to be the more emotional type, while girls were dominated by a more relational motivation. The results show similarities with international researches in environments that vary greatly from the present work. The conclusions suggest the need for future lines of work. This study also identifies the implications of social network uses for active citizenship and participatory training and social integration. These results are also important for the enrichment of dimensions such as social capital development and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]