Czech adolescents on the Internet: multiple communication and its particularities
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| Year of publication | 2006 |
| Type | R&D Presentation |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | Computers and the Internet are becoming a commonplace in professional as well as private lifes of many people: in the Czech Republic, 49.6% of the population use the Internet, whereas the penetration is highest among adolescents, where the figure reaches 83.6% among those aged between 12-20 years (source: World Internet Project 2005). The paper deals with the particularities of Czech adolescents' communication in the virtual environment; we focus on so-called online multiple communication, i.e. multiple synchronous communication of adolescents taking place with several people at a time. The paper is based on two sources of data: a quantitative questionnaire survey carried out in May 2003, which sampled 681 secondary school students aged between 12-20 years, and data obtained within the World Internet Project research, which surveyed a representative sample of Czech population (the sample consisted of 1,832 respondents of at least 12 years of age; the data collection took place in September 2005 and face-to-face interviews were also used). Out of those using the Internet, there are 50% of adolescents claiming that they use multiple communication on the Internet, whereas such way of communication is preferred mainly in chat rooms. Adolescents using multiple communication assert that they may be more open on the Internet and have fewer restraints than in real life; they consider online communication as superficial less often, and they have more friends who they met on the Internet. In general, it is boys that tend to prefer virtual communication more often; girls, on the other hand, tend to lack non-verbal communication more frequently. Virtual communication is also preferred by adolescents having no (male or female) partner. Consequently, for a large number of adolescents, the Internet is becoming a medium through which they learn to communicate, where they can express their feelings, or possibly get in touch with friends, as well as partners. |
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