THE ROLE OF THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA AMONG YOUNG POPULATION IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES Nevena Ristova, MSc MIT University - Skopje

Introduction Young population is: Accepting the innovations and the new developments, trying to keep pace with the new trends. Completely aware of the digital technologies. Flexible and fully opened to the future horizons. Ready to upgrade and promote themselves, and also to exploit suitably the potential and the benefits of new technologies and social media.

We cannot say that the young people don’t have basic knowledge of: New technologies Internet Digital skills How to be engaged on-line Social media On-line activism

The feeling of…

The clear picture of the usage of internet in contemporary society Easiness of using all kinds of digital tools (smart phones, internet, social networks, search engines) Not knowing how to use all the digital skills according to the purpose or needs Not using the possibilities offered by the internet in terms of participation in decision making processes

Questions that arise… Do young people know properly to use the benefits of the new social media? Are young people sufficiently educated and involved in the processes of e-engagement? Is the awareness of youth at a high level for them to use digital tools to engage themselves in solving the social problems that affect them?

To get the answers… National surveys from the past years for improving key competences and digital skills of young people out of their everyday educational environments Specific survey questionnaire: Period: from 2013/2014 up to 2015/2016 academic year Participants: students in the first year at MIT University – Skopje which take the course Informatics (Introduction to Information Technologies)

The specific survey Managed by: the academic staff in order to get a better picture of the basic knowledge of the new students Implementation: during the introductory lecture in class The survey: General Knowledge of Internet and Microsoft Office Composed of 12 questions: 6 refers to internet and 6 to basic knowledge of the program package Microsoft Office For the purpose of this analysis the focus is on 5 questions represented with adequate charts

5

4

3

conclusion

Are we all becoming CLICKTIVISTS = WOULD-BE ACTIVISTS using only “Like” or “Retweet”?