Relationship of minors with social networks and whatsapp: causes and consequences.

Abstract

At present, the smartphone and social networks have become almost mandatory elements for everyone, from very early ages, constituting a new and powerful form of socialization, with relational and communicative functions so powerful that if you do not use any of them, it seems that “you do not exist”.This is the reason that led us to develop the present work, intending to study the causes and consequences derived from the type of relationship established by minors with social networks and WhatsApp. The influence of certain factors such as self-esteem and the need of attention and social recognition –even reaching narcissism– which crystallize in the incessant uploading (publication) of photos and personal information, is analysed. Moreover, other negative consequences that may result from a little responsible and/or abusive use, such as the difficulty of interacting with others outside a screen or the possibilities to control to the other that they can allow, are also considered. Likewise, by focusing on different aspects of their social behaviour, we intend to analyse the reasons that make these tools so attractive and how they affect the lives of the users. To perform this research, a quantitative methodology was used, through an ad hoc questionnaire developed by the authors. It was applied to a sample of n=134 students from the province of Salamanca: ESO (Obligatory Secondary Education) children, high school and professional training students, with an average age of 14.8 years. From the results obtained it is possible to conclude that these tools can represent an important limitation in the life of the users, making difficult some aspects of their social life, even doing that their mood depend on the feedback obtained from the networks through the publications, not being as simple as they think to be separated from them.