Inés Ruiz Requies

The construction of identity of young people in an interconnected society

This study examined the socialization processes of secondary students (compulsory secondary education) in virtual social networks, using a dual strategy of qualitative social research that combined the methodology of focus groups with the use of virtual ethnography. Three main lines of analysis were developed, the first of which was used to analyze the main elements defining the incorporation of youth into the sphere of digital technologies. The second interpretive framework looked at the role of social media in youths construction of identity, and at the opportunities and main problems associated with their management of their intimate, private, and public lives. The third line of analysis looked in greater detail at the differences in use, appropriation, and incorporation of interconnected youth, based on social categories such as gender, media diet, political capital, or educational path that would act as social mediators in their virtual experience. Lastly, a number of conclusions were drawn emphasizing that young hyperconnected individuals live their experience of socialization and identity construction on the Network in a complex way, noting, nonetheless, that social networks can be an opportunity for the construction of social ties and development of democratic societies.