SOCIAL COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS OF VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES ON SOCIAL NETWORKS

The article presents the results of the research focused on the difference in the media sphere preferences of Generation Y and Generation Z in the years 2016/17. The aim was to compare individual activities in the real and virtual world using the quantitative questionnaire survey method. The questions were selected from the YouthSpeak questionnaire, which was created by the international student union AISEC. The research was conducted in 164 respondents: primary school students (Generation Z) and university students (Generation Y). It has been discovered that their parents and relatives are the most trusted sources of information for the younger Generation Z (26%), while the older Generation Y trust books and professional articles most (30%). Both the monitored generations see the greatest benefit of new media in the fact that they enable communication (Generation Z 41% and Generation Y 52%). Both groups prefer doing sport in their free time. However, in reality, young people spend most time at the computer, on average 3.5 hours a day. As far as the secure communication is concerned, the research has brought a positive finding that both groups prefer human contacts to virtual ones, although in the younger Generation Z this ratio is 7% lower than in the older Generation Y. This result indicates a growing preference of future generations for communication in the virtual environment.