scholarly journals Youth’s Usage of Leisure Time with Video Games and Social Networks

Comunicar ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (40) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Muros-Ruiz ◽  
Yolanda Aragón-Carretero ◽  
Antonio Bustos-Jiménez

The aim of this article is to understand the behaviour of Secondary Education students during their leisure time when using some different virtual spaces. We report a study carried out in a Community Centre offering training and leisure services for youngsters. Due to the large number of technological activities offered, this study paves the way for analysis and reflection about the hidden reasons and motivations young people have to use virtual spaces. We also show the interpretations and reflections of youngsters in their personal relationships and models of cohabitation. Our study likewise approaches the relation that youngsters establish between real and virtual spaces, focusing our attention on the construction of interactions which stems from their personal experiences. For data collection we carried out observations, conversations, analysis of documents and interviews. We analyzed with special interest the meanings that youngsters assign to their experiences in relation with mediatic and civic processes during their leisure time. The results of the study help to know the initiative, motivations and manner of acting that the youngsters of this study have on their ways of socialization in community. Concretely, the aspects allied with the search of pleasure, entertainment, the maintenance of social ties and continuous stimulation uses.Este artículo tiene como finalidad comprender los comportamientos de jóvenes de Educación Secundaria Obli­gatoria durante el tiempo libre en el uso de diferentes entornos virtuales. Presenta un estudio realizado en un centro de servicios comunitarios, formativos y de ocio orientado a la juventud. Debido a la oferta de actividades lúdicas de carácter tecnológico que en este lugar se realiza, el estudio abre vías de análisis y reflexión sobre los planteamientos y las motivaciones en el uso de los entornos virtuales, sobre las interpretaciones y reflexiones de los jóvenes en cuanto a relaciones personales y modelos de convivencia. En el trabajo se realiza una aproximación a la relación que establece la juventud entre el escenario presencial y virtual, centrando la atención en la construcción de interacciones de un modo vivencial. Para la recogida de información se realizaron observaciones, conversaciones, análisis de documentos y entrevistas. Se han analizado con especial interés los sentidos que se atribuían a las experiencias en relación con los procesos mediáticos y cívicos en la ocupación del tiempo libre. Los resultados del trabajo ayudan a conocer los planteamientos, las motivaciones y las conductas que los jóvenes de este estudio tienen sobre sus formas de socialización en red. Concretamente, los aspectos relacionados con la búsqueda del placer, el entretenimiento, el mantenimiento de lazos sociales y la estimulación continua en los usos.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4442
Author(s):  
Marcos Cabezas-González ◽  
Sonia Casillas-Martín ◽  
Ana García-Valcárcel Muñoz-Repiso

The global public health crisis unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that digital competence in education is no longer an option, but a necessity. Online communication with friends using social networks is an activity in which young people very frequently and at increasingly early ages engage. This article presents the results of a study analyses digital-competence levels in the area of communication of Spanish basic-education students (aged 12–16) and establishes whether online communication with friends and the use of social media impact it. A quantitative methodology with a descriptive and cross-sectional design was used. The sample comprised 807 students, and data collection was based on a problem-solving test. Findings show that students who use online communication with their friends very often and that those who use social networks a lot have lower levels of digital competence. Education centres should reflect on this in order to implement curricular programs that may strengthen this type of competence.


Author(s):  
Lisanne Wilken

Lisanne Wilken: Fieldwork among People Personal relationships between the anthropologist and the informants in a given field plays a crucial role for anthropological fieldwork and for the information the anthropologist gets. With reference to personal experiences from fieldwork in Northern and Central Italy, the author argues that methods of establishing and maintaining personal field relations ought to play a much more prominent role in the discussions of anthropological field methods than is usually the case. In today’s discussions of anthropological methodology one can easily get the impression that field relations are coincidentially automatically, established, or that anthropologists have an innate capacity for the creation of social relationships in a variety of social and cultural contexts. The article discusses how dependence on a few close informants may block the collection of data and suggests ways to establish a broad range of informants. One solution is to establish field relations prior to the commencement of fieldwork. This method not only ensures that informants are available when fieldwork is started but also facilitates the cross-cutting of social boundaries which may otherwise be difficult to crosscut.The article also suggests that questionnaires may be used as a method to attract attention to the research project in the field and to broaden the circle of informants. The focus of the article is not the nature of the data collected during fieldwork, but rather the circumstances for the collection of data.  


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-125
Author(s):  
Lidia Bielinis ◽  
Cezary Kurkowski ◽  
Monika Maciejewska

In the study we present results of two research projects conducted simultaneously at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UWM in Olsztyn referring to the place digital technologies have in the learning processes in the opinions of Early Education students. The results show that the group of surveyed students might be situated on the borderline of digital natives and digital immigrants’ worlds. The conducted survey demonstrated limited trust to digital sources of knowledge amongst students and discrepancy between their personal experiences with using new technology, on a daily basis, and traditional ways of learning proposed by the University. The analysis of the case study indicated that for preparing future teachers to work with children (digital natives), it is important to organize a learning environment in which both worlds – digital and analogue – are connected.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Clio Andris ◽  
Dipto Sarkar

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Interpersonal relationships are an important part of social and personal health. Studies of social capital show that individuals and communities with stronger ties are have an economic and health advantage. Yet, loneliness and isolation are becoming major public health issues. There is a pressing need to measure where relationships are strong and how accessible one’s social ties are, in order to learn how to better support face-to-face meetings and promote social health in society. However, the datasets we use to study people and human behaviour are most often mobility data and census data &amp;ndash; which tell us little about personal relationships. These data can be augmented with information about where people have ties, and how their relationships unfold over geographic space. The data we use to study the built environment include building footprints and infrastructure, and we can annotate these data by how (well) infrastructure supports different kinds of relationships, in order to ask new questions about how the landscape encourages relationships.</p><p> We suggest a list of methods for representing interpersonal relationships and social life at various socio-spatial levels of aggregation. We give an example of each, with an effort to span various use cases and spatial scales of data modelling.</p><p> <strong>Dyads (line) and Ego-based (star):</strong> This geometric model represents a relationship between two individuals (Figure 1A). The individuals can be geolocated to households, administrative units, real-time locations, etc. The tie can be given a nominal category such as family or co-worker, and edge weights that signify reported relationship strength, frequency of contact, frequency of face-to-face meeting, et cetera. Star models represent a central individual and his/her geolocated ties (that radiate from the centre). The star illustrates the theoretical concept of personal extensibility.</p><p> <strong>Points of Interest (points):</strong> Points of interest provide a place-based perspective (note that these entities can also be represented as polygons such as building footprints, or lines such as gradients of interaction on a subway). Certain places are better suited for fostering relationships than others (Figure 1B), and each can be annotated with their ability to foster: new ties (a nightclub), gender-bonding ties (bowling leagues), romantic ties (romantic restaurants), inter-generational ties (a religious facility), professional ties (conferences), et cetera.</p><p> <strong>Polygons/Administrative Units (polygons):</strong> These data are attached to administrative areal units (Census boundaries, provinces, zones, etc.). The data represent surveyed data on relationship-related variables in censuses, social surveys and social capital surveys. These surveys ask about trust, friendliness with neighbours, social life, belongingness to institutions, and more (Figure 1C), illustrating the social health of an area.</p><p> <strong>Aggregate Flows and Social Networks (lies and networks):</strong> This model illustrates the geolocated, social ties within a spatial extent, i.e. the social networks of a group of many people over a large extent (Figure 1D). Data can be sourced from social media, telecommunications patterns, and other declarations of relationships.</p><p> <strong>Regions (polygons):</strong> Regions, that may describe neighbourhoods within one city, or an agglomeration of cities, can be defined by social ties. Instead of commuting or economic ties, regions are defined by a preponderance of social ties within a given polygon, and a lack of ties between polygons (or between the polygon and any external area). Social regions represent a likeness and strong ties between the people that live within the region (Figure 1E).</p><p> Given these methods for representing social life and interpersonal relationships as GIS data, new questions may arise. At the <strong>dyadic level</strong>: how can we map the presence of a relationship between two people? At the <strong>ego-based level</strong>: how far and with what kind of diversity do people have ties? At the <strong>point of interest level</strong>: what kinds of mapable data can describe places’ ability to create new relationships and foster existing relationships? At the <strong>polygonal level</strong>: what kinds of mapable data can show where relationships are strong or weak? At the <strong>levels of flows and networks</strong>: what kinds of mapable data can describe systems of diffusion? At the <strong>regional level</strong>: what physical and administrative boundaries guide social ties?</p><p> For cartographers and geographic modellers looking to study social life, data acquisition, analysis, and mapping are challenges. The point of this extended abstract is to inventory the possibilities of mapping these data, open a dialog for experimenting with what kinds of symbologies, associated variables, classification schemes, visualization techniques and data collection opportunities are available for this purpose. We also hope to create spaces for comparative studies that describe the implications of these choices. In our search, we find that the major research challenges are the following: 1) privacy 2) geolocatable data 3) qualitative vs. quantitative data and 4) assurance statistically-significant samples sizes 5) analysis and modelling 6) visualization. Nevertheless, our goal is to make these indicators and data more GIS-friendly and available to geospatial analysts, modellers and cartographers.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Bayer ◽  
Neil Anthony Lewis ◽  
Jonathan Stahl

Much remains unknown about moment-to-moment social-network cognition — that is, who comes to mind as we go about our day-to-day lives. Responding to this void, we describe the real-time construction of cognitive social networks. First, we outline the types of relational structures that comprise momentary networks, distinguishing the roles of personal relationships, social groups, and mental sets. Second, we discuss the cognitive mechanisms that determine which individuals are activated — and which are neglected — through a dynamic process. Looking forward, we contend that these overlooked mechanisms need to be considered in light of emerging network technologies. Finally, we chart the next steps for understanding social-network cognition across real-world contexts, along with the built-in implications for social resources and intergroup disparities.


ILR Review ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepti Goel ◽  
Kevin Lang

This article highlights a specific mechanism through which social networks help in job search. The authors characterize the strength of a network by its likelihood of providing a job offer. Using a theoretical model, they show that the difference between wages in jobs found using networks versus those found using formal channels decreases as the network becomes stronger. The authors verify this result for recent immigrants to Canada for whom a strong network is captured by the presence of a “close tie.” Furthermore, structural estimates confirm that the presence of a close tie operates by increasing the likelihood of generating a job offer from the network rather than by altering the network wage distribution.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S175-S175
Author(s):  
Danielle Oleskiewicz ◽  
Karen Rook

Abstract Older adults often winnow their social ties to focus on emotionally rewarding ties (Charles & Carstensen, 2010). Some older adults, however, have small social networks that preclude much winnowing or aversive social ties from which disengagement is difficult. These individuals might be motivated to expand, rather than contract, their social ties. The current study sought to extend knowledge regarding potential links between social network characteristics and older adults’ interest, effort, and success in creating new social ties. We expected that small social networks and negative social ties might motivate interest and effort directed toward forming new social ties but that positive social ties might foster success in efforts to form new ties. In-person interviews were conducted with participants (N = 351, Mean age = 74.16) in a larger study of older adults’ social networks and well-being. The interviews assessed participants’ social networks, as well as their interest, effort, and success in making new social ties. Participants’ social network composition, rather than size, was associated with greater motivation to establish new social ties. Negative social ties were associated with greater interest and effort directed toward forming new social ties. Positive social ties were related to greater success (due, in part, to their support provision) and, unexpectedly, were also related to greater interest and effort directed toward forming new ties. Older adults sometimes seek to expand, rather than contract, their social ties, and characteristics of their social networks appear to play a role in fueling and influencing the success of such efforts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Nauman Ali Khan ◽  
Sihai Zhang ◽  
Wuyang Zhou ◽  
Ahmad Almogren ◽  
Ikram Ud Din ◽  
...  

Stochastic Internet of Things (IoT)-based communication behavior of the progressing world is tremendously impacting social networks. The growth of social networks helps to quantify the effect on the Social Internet of Things (SIoT). Multiple existences of two persons at several geographical locations in different time frames hint to predict the social connection. We investigate the extent to which social ties between people can be inferred by critically reviewing the social networks. Our study used Chinese telecommunication-based anonymized caller data records (CDRs) and two openly available location-based social network data sets, Brightkite and Gowalla. Our research identified social ties based on mobile communication data and further exploits communication reasons based on geographical location. This paper presents an inference framework that predicts the missing ties as suspicious social connections using pipe and filter architecture-based inference framework. It highlights the secret relationship of users, which does not exist in real data. The proposed framework consists of two major parts. Firstly, users’ cooccurrence based on the mutual location in a specific time frame is computed and inferred as social ties. Results are investigated based upon the cooccurrence count, the gap time threshold values, and mutual friend count values. Secondly, the detail about direct connections is collected and cross-related to the inferred results using Precision and Recall evaluation measures. In the later part of the research, we examine the false-positive results methodically by studying the human cooccurrence patterns to identify hidden relationships using a social activity. The outcomes indicate that the proposed approach achieves comprehensive results that further support the theory of suspicious ties.


2018 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 792-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Stadtfeld ◽  
András Vörös ◽  
Timon Elmer ◽  
Zsófia Boda ◽  
Isabel J. Raabe

Academic success of students has been explained with a variety of individual and socioeconomic factors. Social networks that informally emerge within student communities can have an additional effect on their achievement. However, this effect of social ties is difficult to measure and quantify, because social networks are multidimensional and dynamically evolving within the educational context. We repeatedly surveyed a cohort of 226 engineering undergraduates between their first day at university and a crucial examination at the end of the academic year. We investigate how social networks emerge between previously unacquainted students and how integration in these networks explains academic success. Our study measures multiple important dimensions of social ties between students: their positive interactions, friendships, and studying relations. By using statistical models for dynamic network data, we are able to investigate the processes of social network formation in the cohort. We find that friendship ties informally evolve into studying relationships over the academic year. This process is crucial, as studying together with others, in turn, has a strong impact on students’ success at the examination. The results are robust to individual differences in socioeconomic background factors and to various indirect measures of cognitive abilities, such as prior academic achievement and being perceived as smart by other students. The findings underline the importance of understanding social network dynamics in educational settings. They call for the creation of university environments promoting the development of positive relationships in pursuit of academic success.


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