Young, Online and Connected

The opportunities that the Internet gives adolescents, and the extent to which they actually seize them, provide an interesting tension, which gives rise to questions about why adolescents differ in their offline and online social and societal engagement. Adolescents especially use the Internet to connect with their social network everywhere and at any time, and to engage in activities that promote social inclusion in peer groups. From the perspective of educators and governments, the Internet may afford adolescents to participate in the wider society. However, adolescents appear little interested in online cultural and political activities. Consequently, the three dimensions of social cohesion that have been scrutinized in this thesis to investigate how adolescents’ Internet use is related to social cohesion are: social networks and social capital, adolescents’ social inclusion, and their participation in society. Since their Internet use is not the only influencing factor, other aspects also have to be taken into account. As a result, the following sub-questions were formulated:

1. How is the everyday Internet use of adolescents related to their social networks, social inclusion and participation in society?
2. To what extent are differences in Internet use and skills among adolescents related to their online participation and social relationships?
3. Which factors other than Internet use are relevant in explaining differences in social cohesion among adolescents?

In the first two studies of this dissertation, the question how adolescents’ Internet use is related to their social networks and social inclusion was investigated by focusing on the relationships with their most important social ties: their parents and their peers. The third and fourth studies explored adolescents’ online engagement in society by examining their online cultural and political participation.