Digital Transition Outcomes: From Online Reality to Mixed Reality

Abstract

Nowadays, when most people are on the Internet and “connected” most time of the day and night, the Internet becomes a place of the socialization of modern children and adolescents, which requires a rethinking of changes in user activity, digital competence and online risks in recent years. The aim of this study was to compare user activity, online risks, and digital competence in adolescents and parents according to three population studies carried out in 2010, 2013, and 2019. The data of 1219 parents of 12—17-year-old adolescents and 1553 adolescents aged 12-17 years from 15 regions of Russia who replied to the research questions in 2019 were compared with the answers of 1203 adolescents aged 12—17 years and 1209 parents in 2013, as well as with the answers of 685 pairs “parent — teenager aged 12—16 years” in 2010. It was shown that a higher level of user activity by 2019 allows suggesting its transformation into experience of a “combined” reality, manifested at an objective level in complementing the online activity with most of daytime activities and at a subjective level — in adolescents’ experience of reality as combined and not divided into online and offline. Compared to 2010, adolescents are significantly less likely to encounter sexual content and malware online, but more often experience cyber-aggression and public revealing of their personal information without their consent. The overall level of digital competency by 2019 is higher than in 2013 for both adolescents and parents, with the largest changes related to responsibility, and the minimum changes — to motivation to improve their knowledge.