SOCIAL MEDIA BEHAVIOR PATTERNS OF ADOLESCENTS: CHOOSING A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Over the past decade, the development of social media and the digital arena has shaped new communication scenarios. The rapid inclusion of new technologies in the lives of young people is increasing the risk posed by the Internet, which causes concern for researchers. It is necessary to explain to adolescents the risks and threats of uncontrolled use of the Internet, and in order to form a competent youth policy, it is necessary to analyze the impact of social networks on a teenager, that is, to understand what social networks teenagers prefer, what attracts them to social networks, and how they perceive social networks. The purpose of the article is to study the patterns of behavior of adolescents in social networks and identify the main target groups. In connection with the goals and objectives set, a quantitative study was carried out on a representative population of Russia aged 14 to 19 years, the sample of which was 505 people. Based on the results of the study, target groups of users were identified, inclined to different types of behavior in social networks. In accordance with the user’s belonging to the group, it is necessary to choose one or another communication strategy to build effective communication. The respondents were asked to mark statements with a positive or negative load with which they most agree. The statements were formed from pilot in-depth interviews with teenagers in which they talked about their typical use of social media. Based on the marked statements, as well as gender, age, involvement in social networks, areas of interest and referential personalities for adolescents, the respondents were profiled by segment. Factorial and cluster analysis was carried out to profile the respondents by segment, and the questions of the questionnaire were used to describe the segments. Segments differ by gender, age, attitudes towards social networks and media in general, use of social networks, areas of interest, purposes of using social networks, as well as personalities that are referenced for adolescents. The article provides recommendations for working with target groups: when targeting communication strategies, the effectiveness of communication between adolescents and organizations that form youth policy increases.

Keywords:  social networks, teenagers, network communication