Social media as a field of a modern teenager’s socialization

Abstract

The paper explores teenagers’ attitude towards social media: their opinion about functions, specifics, and content of the interaction. The analysis is based on the data of a questionnaire survey carried out by the staff of the Centre of Sociology of Education (Institute of Education Management of the Russian Academy of Education). The survey involved 2074 students of 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th grades of schools of the Moscow Oblast. The data obtained in the research reveal specific gender and age differences. In using social media male students aim at expanding their social contacts, whereas female students are more interested in its informational and educational functions. The interest in the topic of personal relationships increases with age. The data showed that use of social media depends on student’s social status: those with high status among classmates value interaction in social media for its “freedom”, while those who have low status in real life emphasize the possibility to have a different self—representation in social media. According to the survey motives and activity in social media of those adolescents who consider their profiles as ‘provocative’ or ‘explicit’ significantly differ from those who want to keep their real-life personality (p≤0,05 for all comparisons). The results allow us to conclude that to a modern adolescent social media is a social testing ground where they solve their age-related and social conflicts.