engleski

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS AND INTERNET COMMUNICATION AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Our society uses internet on daily bases not only for business purposes but private ones as well. The amount of online communication is rising exponentially each day and is becoming an important part of social life. Social media usage is particularly increasing among young people. The main aim of this research was to explore the habits and attitudes regarding the usage of social networks among high school students on one Croatian High school. The core sample consisted of 60 high school students, aged between 14 and 18, who completed the Social Network Usage Questionnaire (SNU) online which was designed for the purpose of this research. The results showed that high school students spend between 1 and 5 or more hours per day on social media. The majority of participants use social platforms such as Instagram, You Tube and Facebook. Elements of risky behavior linked with excessive usage of internet which include accepting unknown friend requests on Facebook have also been detected. Participants believe that it is not acceptable to use Internet during their free time with the family. The results of this research can be used for educational purposes such as training for high school students with emphasis on practicing online communication skills. Moreover, including teachers and parents in the training can only be beneficial. This training could be helpful in terms of providing useful information about the content with high standards of quality as well as recognizing potentially risky behavior on internet that needs to be avoided.

Internet, social media, high school students

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