Keywords

Social networking sites, YouTube, participation, content, young people, socioeconomic level

Abstract

The growing access to the Internet, devices, and social media has revolutionized communication processes and democratized access to information and content creation. However, several researchers have shown that although access to the Internet is readily available, the virtual world is a mirror of the society in which we live where digital inequity exists. Several studies present evidence that social status does not affect the presence of social network users, but it does affect the way it is used and content creation, although it concerns studies that were mostly carried out in European and North American contexts. This research explores the socioeconomic profile of young people concerning the consumption and creation of content, and the virtual world of adolescents related to social inequalities found in the real world. This study followed an exploratory quantitative design by means of a survey that was applied to 2,115 high-school students from high-performing educational institutions in Ecuador. The results highlight three units of analysis: (1) reasons for using the platform (2) time of consumption (3) type of content that young people create. In line with previous studies, it points out how the socioeconomic environment has an effect on how young people use social networks. Similarly, it shows an increase in the democratization of content creation processes.

View infography

References

Al-Rahmi, W., & Othman, M. (2013). The impact of social media use on academic performance among university students: A pilot study. Journal of Information Systems Research and Innovation, 4(12), 1-10. https://bit.ly/3uEL79w

Link Google Scholar

Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, social media & technology 2018. Pew Research Center. https://pewrsr.ch/3uGBbfN

Link Google Scholar

Baumer, E.P. (2018). Socioeconomic Inequalities in the Non-use of Facebook. In R. Mandryk, & M. Hancock (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174190

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Bautista-Sancho, L. (2012). Los cambios en la web 2.0: Una nueva sociabilidad. Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 18, 121-128. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_ESMP.2012.v18.40917

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Blank, G. (2013). Who creates content? Stratification and content creation on the Internet. Information, Communication & Society, 16(4), 590-612. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2013.777758

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Blank, G., & Dutton, W.H. (2012). Age and trust in the Internet: The centrality of experience and attitudes toward technology in Britain. Social Science Computer Review, 30(2), 135-151. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439310396186

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Boyd, D. (2014). It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press. https://bit.ly/3y2HtZc

Link Google Scholar

Briciu, A., & Briciu, V.A. (2020). Participatory culture and tourist experience: Promoting destinations through YouTube. In A. Kavoura, E, Kefallonitis & P, Theodoridis (Eds.), Strategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism (pp. 425-433). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36126-6_47

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Castillo-Abdul, B., Romero-Rodríguez, L.M., & Larrea-Ayala, A. (2020). Kid influencers in Spain: Understanding the themes they address and preteens' engagement with their YouTube channels. Heliyon, 6(9). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05056

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Cipolletta, S., Malighetti, C., Cenedese, C., & Spoto, A. (2020). How can adolescents benefit from the use of social networks? The iGeneration on Instagram. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(19), 6952. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17196952

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Correa, T. (2016). Digital skills and social media use: How Internet skills are related to different types of Facebook use among ‘digital natives’. Information, Communication & Society, 19(8), 1095-1107. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1084023

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Creswell, J.W., & Poth, C.N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Saga publications. https://bit.ly/2ReWsyt

Link Google Scholar

Fardoun, H.M., Alghazzawi, D.M., López, S.R., Penichet, V.M., & Gallud, J.A. (2012). Online social networks impact in secondary education. In P. Vittorini, R, GennariIvana, I, Marenzi, F, de-la-Prieta, & J.M. Corchado- Rodríguez (Eds.), International Workshop on Evidence-Based Technology Enhanced Learning (pp. 37-45). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28801-2_5

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Ferrés, J., & Piscitelli, A. (2012). Media competence. Articulated proposal of dimensions and indicators. [La competencia mediática: propuesta articulada de dimensiones e indicadores]. Comunicar, 38, 75-82. https://doi.org/10.3916/C38-2012-02-08

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

García-Leiva, M. (2017). Desafíos y oportunidades para la diversidad del audiovisual en internet. Política & Sociedade, 16(35), 132-158. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7984.2017v16n35p132

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Halpern, D., Piña, M., & Gunckel, C.O. (2020). School performance: New multimedia resources versus traditional notes. [El rendimiento escolar: Nuevos recursos multimedia frente a los apuntes tradicionales]. Comunicar, 64, 39-48. https://doi.org/10.3916/C64-2020-04

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Hargittai, E. (2008). The digital reproduction of inequality. In D.B. Grusky, & S. Szelényi (Eds.), The inequality reader: Contemporary and foundational readings in race, class, and gender (pp. 936-944). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429494468-69

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Hargittai, E., & Walejko, G. (2008). The participation divide: Content creation and sharing in the digital age. Information, Community and Society, 11(2), 239-256. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180801946150

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Helsper, E.J. (2012). A corresponding fields model for the links between social and digital exclusion. Communication Theory, 22(4), 403-426. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2012.01416.x

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Hoffmann, C.P., Lutz, C., & Meckel, M. (2015). Content creation on the Internet: A social cognitive perspective on the participation divide. Information, Communication & Society, 18(6), 696-716. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2014.991343

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Censos (INEC) (Ed.) (2019). Tecnologías de la información y la comunicación. Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Censos. https://bit.ly/3hbn9Pj

Link Google Scholar

Kaplan, A.M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Latorre, M. (2018). Historia de las Web, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 y 4.0. Universidad Marcelino Champagnat. https://bit.ly/3yekZEK

Link Google Scholar

Micheli, M. (2016). Social networking sites and low-income teenagers: Between opportunity and inequality. Information, Communication & Society, 19(5), 565-581. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1139614

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Ministerio de Telecomunicaciones (Ed.) (2015). 91% de ecuatorianos utiliza las redes sociales en su teléfono inteligente. https://bit.ly/3xYPSwx

Link Google Scholar

Obar, J.A., & Wildman, S.S. (2015). Social media definition and the governance challenge: An introduction to the special issue. Telecommunications Policy, 39(9), 745-750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2015.07.014

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Palo?, R., & Drobot, L. (2010). The impact of family influence on the career choice of adolescents. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 3407-3411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.524

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Pires, F., Masanet, M.J., & Scolari, C.A. (2019). What are teens doing with YouTube? Practices, uses and metaphors of the most popular audio-visual platform. Information, Communication & Society, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1672766

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Raddaoui, A. (2012). Democratization of knowledge and the promise of web 2.0: A historical perspective. In Proceedings of The European Conference On E-Learning (pp. 435-441). https://bit.ly/3bgDP4g

Link Google Scholar

Ríos-Hernández, I.N., Rivera-Rogel, D., & Portugal, M.R. (2020). Análisis de las competencias mediáticas de alumnos y docentes de Latinoamérica: Casos Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia y Argentina. In Aguaded & Vizcai?no-Verdu? (Eds.), Redes sociales y ciudadania: Hacia un mundo ciberconectado y empoderado (pp.125-134). Grupo Comunicar Ediciones. https://doi.org/10.3916/alfamed2020

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Rodríguez, A. (2020). ¿Cuáles son las redes sociales preferidas por los ecuatorianos? El Comercio. https://bit.ly/3fapSFQ

Link Google Scholar

Romero, S., Fardoun, H.M., Penichet, V.M.R., & Gallud, J.A. (2013). Tweacher: New proposal for online social networks impact in secondary education. ADCAIJ: Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal, 2(1), 9-18. https://doi.org/10.14201/ADCAIJ201324918

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Sánchez-Díaz-de-Mera, D., & Lázaro-Cayuso, P. (2017). La adicción al Whatsapp en adolescentes y sus implicaciones en las habilidades sociales. Tendencias pedagógicas, 29, 121-134. https://doi.org/10.15366/tp2017.29.005

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Shiau, W.L., Dwivedi, Y.K., & Yang, H.S. (2017). Co-citation and cluster analyses of extant literature on social networks. International Journal of Information Management, 37(5), 390-399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.04.007

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

Vizcaíno-Verdú, A., Contreras-Pulido, P., & Guzmán-Franco, M.D. (2019). Reading and informal learning trends on YouTube: The booktuber. [Lectura y aprendizaje informal en YouTube: El booktuber]. Comunicar, 59, 95-104. https://doi.org/10.3916/C59-2019-09

Link DOI | Link Google Scholar

We Are Social & Hootsuite (Ed.) (2020). Digital 2020. Global Digital Overview. https://bit.ly/2zSvZxQ

Link Google Scholar

Yin, R. (2011). Applications of case study research, applied social research methods series. Sage. https://bit.ly/3y65Vcf

Link Google Scholar

YouTube (Ed.) (2019). YouTube for press. https://bit.ly/3bjiXcw

Link Google Scholar

Crossmark

Technical information

Received: 28-02-2021

Revised: 23-03-2021

Accepted: 27-04-2021

OnlineFirst: 15-06-2021

Publication date: 01-10-2021

Article revision time: 23 days | Average time revision issue 69: 30 days

Article acceptance time: 58 days | Average time of acceptance issue 69: 69 days

Preprint editing time: 170 days | Average editing time preprint issue 69: 181 days

Article editing time: 215 days | Average editing time issue 69: 226 days

Metrics

Metrics of this article

Views: 33163

Abstract readings: 28838

PDF downloads: 4325

Full metrics of Comunicar 69

Views: 330507

Abstract readings: 294519

PDF downloads: 35988

Cited by

Cites in Web of Science

Torres-Diaz, JC; Rivera-Rogel, D; (...); Andrade-Vargas, L. Effects of COVID-19 on the Perception of Virtual Education in University Students in Ecuador; Technical and Methodological Principles at the Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja Mar 2022 , 2000.

https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063204

Diez-Gutierrez, E; Verdeja, M; (...); Macias-Tovar, J. Political hate speech of the far right on Twitter in Latin America COMUNICAR 30 (72), 2022.

https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-08

Ramon-Verdu, A and Villalba-Gomez, JV. The Image as Language: The Creation and the Use of the Visual Message by Young University Students in Their Communicative Social Activity Frontiers in Psychology, 2022.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.944187

Guevara, EPL; Jorge, LB and Morales, ABA . ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPTION AND CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE UNIVERSITY TEACHING PROFESSIONALIZATION IN ECUADOR REVISTA CONRADO, 2022.

Link Google Scholar

Esquinas, MHR; Ariza, MDH; (...); Carrasco, CA. Validation of a questionnaire on habits and uses of social networks in students of an Andalusian university Aula Abierta, 2023.

https://doi.org/10.17811/rifie.52.2.2023.109-116

Cites in Scopus

Torres-Díaz, J.C., Rivera-Rogel, D., Beltrán-Flandoli, A.M., Andrade-Vargas, L. . Effects of COVID-19 on the Perception of Virtual Education in University Students in Ecuador; Technical and Methodological Principles at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja), Sustainability (Switzerland), .

https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063204

Salas-Valdivia, L., Gutierrez-Aguilar, O. . Implications of Digital Citizenship in Social Media to build a safe environment in the Covid-19 situation), #EANF#, .

https://doi.org/10.1109/LACLO54177.2021.00043

Díez-Gutiérrez, Enrique-Javier; Verdeja, María; Sarrión-Andaluz, José; Buendía, Luis; Macías-Tovar, Julián. Political hate speech of the far right on Twitter in Latin America), 2022, .

https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-08

Ramón-Verdú, A., Villalba-Gómez, J.V.. The Image as Language: The Creation and the Use of the Visual Message by Young University Students in Their Communicative Social Activity), Frontiers in Psychology, .

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.944187

Taipe-Quispe, A., Heredia-Mamani, Y., Turpo-Gebera, O., Igartua, J.-J.. USES OF FACEBOOK AND ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION IN GENERAL STUDIES STUDENTS AT A PERUVIAN UNIVERSITY), Journal of Technology and Science Education, .

https://doi.org/10.3926/jotse.1742

Garcés-Fuenmayor, J., García-Peña, E., Martínez-Garcés, J., Escobar-Soto, R.. Use of social media to promote critical thinking in university students during COVID-19), Educacion y Humanismo, .

https://doi.org/10.17081/EDUHUM.25.44.5763

Esquinas, M.H.R., Ariza, M.D.H., González, J.M.M., Carrasco, C.A.. Validation of a questionnaire on habits and uses of social networks in students of an Andalusian university), Aula Abierta, .

https://doi.org/10.17811/rifie.52.2.2023.109-116

Cites in Google Scholar

Rios-Moyano, S., Neroj, M. A., Colino, C. C., Trigo, I. E., Piédrola, M. P., Jiménez, P. M. S., ... & Lupiañez, P. P. V. (2021). Impacto educativo en un Proyecto de Innovación Docente con Instagram:@ Guíaporundía. DEDiCA Revista de Educação e Humanidades (dreh), (19), 353-381.

https://revistaseug.ugr.es/index.php/dedica/article/view/21924

Ríos Moyano, S., Neroj, M. A., Campos Colino, C., Espinosa Trigo, I., Peláez Piédrola, M., Salazar Jiménez, P. M., ... & Vicario Lupiáñez, P. P. (2021). Impacto educativo en un Proyecto de Innovación Docente con Instagram:@ Guíaporundía.

https://digibug.ugr.es/handle/10481/71922

Navarro, D. A. G., & Domínguez, M. M. (2022). Usos del internet por jóvenes estudiantes durante la pandemia de COVID-19 en México. PAAKAT: Revista de Tecnología y Sociedad, (22).

http://www.udgvirtual.udg.mx/paakat/index.php/paakat/article/view/724

Salas-Valdivia, L., & Gutierrez-Aguilar, O. (2021, October). Implications of Digital Citizenship in Social Media to build a safe environment in the Covid-19 situation. In 2021 XVI Latin American Conference on Learning Technologies (LACLO) (pp. 364-367). IEEE.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9725128/

Torres-Díaz, J. C., Rivera-Rogel, D., Beltrán-Flandoli, A. M., & Andrade-Vargas, L. (2022). Effects of COVID-19 on the Perception of Virtual Education in University Students in Ecuador; Technical and Methodological Principles at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja. Sustainability, 14(6), 3204.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/6/3204

Díez-Gutiérrez, E., Verdeja, M., Sarrión-Andaluz, J., Buendía, L., & Macías-Tovar, J. (2022). Discurso político de odio de la ultraderecha desde Twitter en Iberoamérica. Comunicar: Revista Científica de Comunicación y Educación, 30(72).

https://www.revistacomunicar.com/verpdf.php?numero=72&articulo=72-2022-08&idioma=en

Gómez, A., & Domínguez, M. M. (2022). Usos del internet por jóvenes estudiantes durante la pandemia de la covid-19 en México. PAAKAT: Revista de Tecnología y Sociedad, 12(22), 4.

https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=8324447

Abdala Galvis, S. S. Y., & Camacho Uribe, M. G. (2022). Slow fashion vs fast fashion en Instagram.

https://repository.cesa.edu.co/handle/10726/4492

Guevara, E. P. L., Jorge, L. B., & Morales, A. B. A. (2020). Análisis de la concepción y conceptualización de la profesionalización docente universitaria en Ecuador. Revista Conrado, 18(87), 336-345.

https://conrado.ucf.edu.cu/index.php/conrado/article/view/2535

Díez Gutiérrez, E. J., Verdeja Muñiz, M., Sarrión Andaluz, J., Buendía, L., & Macías Tovar, J. (2022). Discurso político de odio de la ultraderecha desde Twitter en Iberoamérica. Comunicar: revista científica iberoamericana de comunicación y educación.

https://redined.educacion.gob.es/xmlui/handle/11162/224027

Díez-Gutiérrez, E., Verdeja, M., Sarrión-Andaluz, J., & Buendía, L. (2022). Political hate speech of the far right on Twitter in Latin America. Comunicar, 30(72), 101-113.

http://eprints.rclis.org/43432/

Ramón-Verdú, A., & Villalba-Gómez, J. V. (2022). The Image as Language: The Creation and the Use of the Visual Message by Young University Students in Their Communicative Social Activity. Frontiers in psychology, 13.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9302490/

Uses of Facebook and academic procrastination in general studies students at a Peruvian university A Taipe, Y Heredia, O Turpo-Gebera… - Journal of Technology and …, 2023 - jotse.org

https://www.jotse.org/index.php/jotse/article/view/1742

Un ejército en Twitter: El fenómeno interactivo del fandom ARMY-BOLIVIA, en la cuenta de Twitter@ TEAMBO7 durante los meses de septiembre a octubre del año … LNC Peredo - Revista Punto Cero, 2022 - puntocero.ucb.edu.bo

https://puntocero.ucb.edu.bo/a/article/view/43

Procesos de comunicación mediados por las redes sociales del plan de continuidad académica en tiempos de COVID-19: El caso de la Universidad Autónoma de … C SOTO, Y CITLALLY - 2021 - ri.uagro.mx

http://ri.uagro.mx/handle/uagro/3427

15

Download

Alternative metrics

How to cite

Andrade-Vargas, L., Iriarte-Solano, M., Rivera-Rogel, D., & Yunga-Godoy, D. (2021). Young people and social networks: Between the democratization of knowledge and digital inequality. [Jóvenes y redes sociales: Entre la democratización del conocimiento y la inequidad digital]. Comunicar, 69, 85-95. https://doi.org/10.3916/C69-2021-07

Share

           

Oxbridge Publishing House

4 White House Way

B91 1SE Sollihul United Kingdom

Administration

Editorial office

Creative Commons

This website uses cookies to obtain statistical data on the navigation of its users. If you continue to browse we consider that you accept its use. +info X