Manifestations of digital socialization among young people: findings of a pilot survey of high school students

In the modern world, the processes of socialization (personality formation) are gradually moving from the real world to the online space. However, due to the increasing risks of digitalization, the impact of digital socialization on the younger generation becomes an object of controversy among scientists and the public. The paper proposes our own two-stage typology of Internet users, based on the signs of manifestation of online temperament as a behavioral model formed in the course of digital socialization. According to the classification, Internet users have features of the following types: “opportunist / idealist” (using the Internet for deception), “enthusiast / skeptic” (trust / distrust of the content), “aggressor / tolerant” (manifestation of online aggression), “addictive / autonomous” (presence of Internet addiction). Combinations of features of particular types make up the general types of users (adaptive, substitutional, passive), which reflect the results of digital socialization and network acculturation. We propose an algorithm for identifying the types of Internet users in the course of a sociological study. Having tested the proposed solution within the framework of an intelligence study (in the case of a pilot group of schoolchildren from the city of Vologda) we formulate working hypotheses about the diverse impact of digital socialization on modern schoolchildren; dynamics, instability and flexibility of online behavior models of the younger generation; close connection of the socializing influence of the Internet with the development of interpersonal communication. The hypotheses will be taken into account in the course of elaboration of the research topic. The article puts forward a model for organizing digital socialization based on the harmonization of interests of the widest possible range of agents. The findings of the research can be used in the formation of strategic plans for the development of the digital industry and educational policy. Scientific novelty of the research consists in the development of a new methodological solution for using the socializing influence of the Internet environment in the process of generalization.