Rozane De Cock

Compulsive Use of Social Networking Sites in Belgium: Prevalence, Profile, and the Role of Attitude Toward Work and School

A representative sample (n=1,000) of the Belgian population aged 18 years and older filled out an online questionnaire on their Internet use in general and their use of social networking sites (SNS) in particular. We measured total time spent on the Internet, time spent on SNS, number of SNS profiles, gender, age, schooling level, income, job occupation, and leisure activities, and we integrated several psychological scales such as the Quick Big Five and the Mastery Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression modeling shows that gender and age explain an important part of the compulsive SNS score (5%) as well as psychological scales (20%), but attitude toward school (additional 3%) and income (2.5%) also add to explained variance in predictive models of compulsive SNS use.

Social networking sites and contact risks among Flemish youth

This study investigates how teenagers use social networking sites (SNS) and other online communication applications, to what extent they are exposed to online contact risks related to the use of these online tools and how they cope with these risks. A written survey was administered among 815 Flemish adolescents aged 14–19. The study controls for sociodemographics and psychosocial factors, and it concludes that boys, pupils in technical or vocational education, adolescents living in lower SES families, teens with either low or high self-confidence and those having a bad relationship with their parents are more at-risk.

Blind faith in the web? Internet use and empowerment among visually and hearing impaired adults: a qualitative study of benefits and barriers

Abstract In this article we explore and contrast the uses and gratifications (sought and obtained) of the internet for blind/visually impaired and deaf/hearing impaired individuals. The uses and gratifications approach integrates the different issues that surround disabled persons’ internet use into one rich and coherent framework which allows a better understanding of the relationship between benefits obtained from internet use, underlying needs and the barriers that create gaps between gratifications sought and obtained. Based on 21 in-depth interviews, our study shows that both visually and hearing impaired individuals use the internet mostly for gathering information and for communicating with friends and family; meeting new people online was not a priority need. To a great extent these internet uses are driven by the underlying need for independence and active agency. Although our visually and hearing impaired informants share this need, the two groups differ in the gratifications obtained from the internet due to different barriers that hinder their use.

The opinion of Belgian government communication professionals on public communication about policy intentions : pros/cons and conditions

Abstract This article examines the opinion of Belgian government communication professionals regarding the controversial governmental communication about policy not yet adopted by the competent authority (i.e. the legislature) (CNAP). Based on a semi-structured, face-to-face survey among thirty-two Belgian Federal and Flemish spokesmen, we gain insight into the conditions which governmental CNAP is allowed according to these practitioners. We also gain insight into their general opinion on CNAP as well as into their arguments for and against this kind of government communication. The most important pro-CNAP belief is that it keeps citizens from being presented with a fait accompli. The most important argument against CNAP is that it creates false expectations among citizens.

Compulsive Use of Social Networking Sites Among Secondary School Adolescents in Belgium

Some Internet users find it difficult to control the time spent on the Internet, which can lead to a negative impact on school, work and relationships with friends and family. The main goal of the present study was to assess the prevalence of compulsive social networking using the Compulsive Social Networking Scale (CSS) and to determine the profile of compulsive versus non-compulsive users of SNSs by means of a cross-sectional survey among 1002 Belgian adolescents. The results indicate that respondents had an average score of 0.85 on the CSS (range 0–4). When applying a cut off of 2 and more, this resulted in 7.1 % compulsive users. Results showed that both personality traits (6 %) and psychosocial well-being (7.3 %) explain significant amounts of variance above gender and age. In sum, the block of age and gender together with personality and psychosocial well-being explains 15.8 % of the variance.