The impact of media space on the leisure activities of today's youth

The article presents the survey findings of the status, challenges, and factors that affect changes in leisure activities of modern youth. The most common leisure practices, as well as problematic factors of destructive Internet influence on the leisure of modern youth, are revealed. The survey aims at identifying the current status and specificities in the transformation of leisure activities of young people. Advanced digital technologies, total involvement of youth in media space, and representation of leisure in digital space result in a revision of approaches to leisure activity research among other key issues. The development of digital communication technologies adds a negative connotation to the «leisure activity» phenomenon. Furthermore, modern technologies presuppose mastering certain competencies aimed at their use; leisure time conception as an opportunity for young people’s self-development declines in popularity; and obsession with entertainment, instant gratification becomes crucial for leisure activities. The authors’ conclusions are based on theoretical and methodological approaches to the problem of transformation of modern youth leisure activities under the influence of the digital environment. In addition, the article presents the data of sociological research conducted independently by the authors’ team in the period from 2003 to 2020 in the Chelyabinsk region. The data from the studies carried out in 2019-2020 serve as benchmarks. In December 2019, there was conducted a content analysis of the publications of 150 social media accounts of young people in the Chelyabinsk region. In January-March 2020, 300 respondents aged 16 to 30 years (N = 300) were interviewed in person, the average duration of the conversation was 60 minutes. In addition, the authors conducted a frame analysis of cases of young people’s leisure practices (N = 28 cases). The obtained results of 2019-2020 are compared to some data from the earlier authors’ research in 2003-2009, which allow drawing some conclusions related to the status and specificities of the leisure activities transformation of modern youth.