Fostering the Social. Information and Communication Technologies and Communication of Group of Teenagers
Abstract
Spending dozens of hours being on internet, lost in cyberspace and loosing off-line social links, on the edge of internet addiction: this is a popular image of Czech teenager and her/his relationship to information and communication technologies. What is behind this cyber pessimistic labelling of youngsters? There is still few evidence.
In my paper, I will present findings of my PhD research project “The role of ICT in the communication practices of the social group of teenagers”. The objective of my research was to map the interaction of teenagers with new ICT (mobile and smart phone, internet, applications included) in the context of group communication.
I approached this topic from the social shaping and domestication of technology perspective. I covered my research project with semi-ethnographically applied qualitative and partly quantitative methodology.
The project has had a nature of two case studies having quasi-longitudinal character – the data have been collected two and a half consecutive years. The sample has been constituted by two natural Czech social groups of 15–19 years old students.
The nurturing and strengthening of friendship – from school or leisure time activities outside of school, or the leisure time activity institution – have shown to be the key aspects of the participants’ ICT usage. ICT seemed to function as the facilitator of social interaction within the peer microsystem.
It took on various forms: exchanging the music tracks, movies or TV series at school, calling a friend when one is going home at night and is scared, arranging after school program with friends on Facebook and so on. In all cases, the purpose of it was to be with the peer group members – be it intermediated on-line or prospectively off-line using ICT as a tool to make it happen.