Abstract
Cyber space has enabled numerous social activities. The internet has become necessary for all spheres of life and an important element of social, political, and economic development. The world is more networked and connected than ever, with countless cyber possibilities. Children and young people are growing up with the use of information and communication technologies and the widely available internet. However, with numerous cyber activities, cyber security threats and challenges including cyber violence are also growing. The goal of the chapter is to show the negative sides of the internet and how risky the behavior of young people on social networks, which create certain social patterns of behavior, is. The importance of cyber security is not only related to cyber wars and crime, but also seriously affects personal (i.e., human) security and, above all, the security of young people.
TopDistribution, Use, And Abuse Of The Internet
A special theoretical-research approach in the study of life and behave of young people is cyber security. The availability of the Internet and in general Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has led to the fact that a significant part of the youth population, in a certain way, lives outside the social flows of society. This was contributed by the Covid virus pandemic and the creation of conditions for physical distance, which opened up space for mass social integration of young people in cyberspace. The degree of physical alienation significantly affects the development of young people and their maturation (growing up), which is why it is necessary to analyze how young people spend their free time and to what extent the use of ICT is represented, as an important aspect of the social biography of young people. The problem lies in the insufficient vigilance of the youngest Internet users as well as their parents, their lack of information and ignorance, as well as the lack of digital education and security culture through regular education. The prevalence of social networks and applications, their free use, variety and quantity of their offers (financial transactions, entertainment, online games, news, communication, exchange of information, images, recordings) have led to the fact that every child and young person has at least one social network installed, most often You tube, Wats app, TikTok, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter, somewhat less often Facebook and Viber. After all, new mobile phones have a large number of applications installed into which, when you buy a mobile phone, you only need to enter your personal data. A The speed and flow of the creation of new applications makes it almost impossible to monitor and analyze them, especially when you take into account the cyber zone of the so-called dark web.
With the development of telecommunication and information technologies, and the hyperproduction of modes of communication, there is an increasing availability of modern means of communication, thereby expanding the number of users. Although the creation and development of information technologies had the goal of improving science and education, it found its application in all segments of society (Mišev & Kaloserović, 2017). More than half of the world (59%) now uses social media, or 4.7 billion people worldwide. The average daily time spent on social networks is 2 hours and 29 minutes (Chaffey, 2022). According to current data from the company Statista, Facebook has about 2.9 billion registered users, You tube 2.5 billion, Whats App 2 billion, Instagram 1.4 billion, We chat 1.2 billion users, TikTok about 1 billion, and about 700 million Snapchat and Telegram and about 400 million Twitter and Pinterest (Statista, 2022; Smart insights, 2022; Dixon, 2022) . In terms of age, the largest group from 25 to 34 years old (about 31.5%) uses Facebook and Instagram, while Twitter is used by young people from 18 to 29 years old (42%), Snapchat by young people from 15 to 25 years old (48%) and TikTok, which mostly used by young people between 10 and 19 years old (25%). You tube is used by generations from 15 to 35 years old, and Printerest is mostly used by older generations over 50 years old (Barnhart, 2022). All these applications aim at networking people and things all over the Planet. Getting to know each other, socializing, exchanging information, pictures, are the basic tools and means of communication on the Internet among young people, but unfortunately, they are also subject to abuse with the aim of committing cyber violence. Advances in communication technologies may also create opportunities for aggressive dynamics such as cyberbullying (Brighi et al., 2012). According to research conducted by the Institute of Psychology, 62 senior elementary school students and 84 high school students were exposed to risk in cyberspace in 2011. The most widespread risks are forming a virtual friendship with an unknown person (43% of elementary school students, 71% of high school students), as well as leaving personal information publicly available to everyone on profiles (29% of elementary school students, 39% of high school students) and responding to messages from unknown people who want to establish contact with by a child (27% of elementary school students, 47% of high school students) (Viduka, Bašić, & Lavrnić, 2018). Of course, violence should be distinguished from what is called “friendly insult”, which is not digital violence, but a style of communication between peers (Kovačević, 2014).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Cybersecurity: Also known as digital security, is the practice of protecting digital information, devices and resources. This includes personal information, accounts, files, photos, even money.
Social Network: Is nothing more than an application or website that serves as a means of communication between people. The information shared can be in the form of text, images, video, or audio.
Sexting: Is sending and sharing content with explicit sexual content on social networks or the Internet.
Grooming: Is predatory-motivated actions, with the help of which the abuser establishes contact and communion with the victim, with the aim of physically approaching the child.
Digital Violence: Involves the use of digital technologies with the intention of injuring, humiliating and upsetting the person to whom the violence is directed, as well as causing them some damage. Digital bullying encourages group hatred, harassment, stalking, invasion of privacy, insults on any basis, as well as spreading inappropriate and offensive comments against another person.
Digital Literacy: Is understood as the ability to use technology critically and safely at work, in leisure time and in communication.