Information and Communication Technologies and Social Network Sites: The Digital World of Adolescents

Authors

Patrick Delaney, Waterford Institute of Technology

Document Type

Dissertation

Rights

This item is available under a Creative Commons License for non-commercial use only

Publication Details

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Abstract

In the above passage, Tapscott (2009) draws attention to a typical difference in attitude towards the use of new media technology between the current generation of teenagers and those who have gone before them. Central to this view, Tapscott (2009) argues that the present generation of teenagers, termed by Tapscott as the 'Net Generation', have become immersed in technology. As a result, technology has augmented the ways and means in which many of them go about their daily social and leisure practices. Tapscott (1998; 2009) believes that ICTs represent a social sphere for adolescents, whcih facilitates the creation of an environment in which children and adolescents may sustain new and complex forms of social interaction and leisure activity. He contends that adolescents of the Net Generation possess sophisticated knowledge and skills in information technologies that express values, wh ich support learning by experience and the formation of a culture in a virtual environment. This generation of teenagers, according to Tapscott (2009), engross themselves in technology on a regular basis, utilising these virtual spaces for identity creation, media production and consumption purposes.

Recommended Citation

Delaney, P. Information and Communication Technologies and Social Network Sites: The Digital World o fAdolescents. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Waterford Institute of Technology, June 2011.