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TERRA ECONOMICUS

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  • The impact of social networks on the quality of life for youth. Experimental verification

The impact of social networks on the quality of life for youth. Experimental verification


TERRA ECONOMICUS, , Vol. 18 (no. 4),

Digital transformations of the economy are spreading rapidly, thus making it necessary to measure their impact on the quality of life. In this research, we present the findings of the experiment aimed at measuring the impact of social networks on student’s subjective quality of life. The experiment involved 256 university students from Novosibirsk aged 17–20 years. The experiment was conducted between February 2019 and February 2020. Hence, the Russian ruble depreciation and the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia did not affect the behavior of the participants. To measure the subjective quality of life, we apply the methodology for diagnosing the level of psychoemotional stress elaborated by O. Kopina. The results of the experiment demonstrate the impact of short-term use of the social networks on the subjective assessment of the quality of life. Negative for most of the participants, this effect is likely to occur due the active use of social networks which leads to a change in the rituals of interpersonal interaction. This experiment shows that the negative effect of using social networks is greater for women than for men. The type of social network used during the experiment (VKontakte or Instagram) has not impacted on the change in the subjective assessment of the participants’ quality of life. This was probably due to the short time interval during which the impact of social networks on the participants in the experiment took place.
Citation: Shmakov, A. V. (2020). The impact of social networks on the quality of life for youth. Experimental verification. Terra Economicus, 18(4), 126–148. DOI: 10.18522/2073-6606-2020-18-4126-148 (In Russian)
Acknowledgment: The study is supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) within the framework of the research project № 19-010-00195/20.


Keywords: digital transformation; social networks; quality of life; subjective assessment of quality of life; experiment; ritual; well-being

JEL codes: С91, D31, D63, D91, I31, O39

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Publisher: Southern Federal University
Founder: Southern Federal University
ISSN: 2073-6606