Experiences and aspects of using social media among adolescents with intellectual disabilities

Društvene mreže pojavile su se devedesetih godina prošlog stoljeća, a popularnost im i danas sve više raste. Predstavljaju nov oblik komunikacije u virtualnom svijetu te znatno ubrzavaju prijenos željenih informacija. Tijekom godina su se mijenjale, nestajale iz upotrebe i nastajale brojne nove. U internetskom svijetu, najpopularnije su Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp i Viber. Zauzimaju velik dio internetskog prostora i milijarde zadovoljnih korisnika potvrđuju njihove dobrobiti. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je uvidjeti iskustva u korištenju društvenih mreža kod mladih s intelektualnim teškoćama. Točnije, htjelo se saznati koja je svrha korištenja te zabavljaju li se korisnici i jesu li zadovoljni koristeći društvene mreže, koji je značaj pismenosti te kakav je odnos s drugim osobama na društvenim mrežama. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo šest ispitanika, točnije tri osobe muškog i tri ženskog spola. Svi ispitanici imaju laki stupanj intelektualnih teškoća i pohađaju treći razred Centra za odgoj i obrazovanje Zagreb gdje se školuju za pomoćna zanimanja. Istraživanje je kvalitativnog tipa i opisuje iskustva sudionika. Sa sudionicima istraživanja provedeni su polustrukturirani intervjui koji su snimani. Intervjui su provedeni u prostorima škole te za dva ispitanika u prostoru njihova doma u kojem stanuju uz podršku. Nakon provedbe intervjua, napravljeni su transkripti intervjua i provedena je kvalitativna tematska analiza. Nalazi istraživanja pokazuju da je dopisivanje najveća svrha korištenja društvenih mreža te da korištenje društvenih mreža povoljno utječe na razinu zabave i zadovoljstva. Također, ispitanici pokazuju interes za objave i važnost drugih osoba na društvenim mrežama, a značaj pismenosti među ispitanicima varira.Social networks have appeared in the last decade of the previous century, and their popularity continues to grow. They represent a new way of communication in the virtual world and significantly affect the speed of sending the information. They have changed over the years, some have disappeared from the social media scene and some new ones showed up. Nowdays, the most popular social medias are Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Viber. They take up a large part of the online space and billions of satisfied users confirm their utility. The aim of this research was realising the perspective of the social networks usage among young people with intellectual disabilities. More specifically, there was a wish to see the purpose of the usage and what is the level of fun and satisfaction they accomplish using social networks. Furthermore, literacy significance and a way they form relationships with other people on social networks were also examined. There were six participants interviewed, three male and three female. All participants have mild intellectual disabilities and attend the third grade of the Centar za odgoj i obrazovanje Zagreb where they are studying to get an auxiliary occupations degree. This is a qualitative research and describes experiences of the participants. Semi-structured interview was the form of getting the information from each participant. There was also an audio recording of every interview. Four participants were interviewed in the school area and two participants were interviewed in their home where they live with support. After interviewing, transcripts were made and qualitative thematic analysis as well. Research findings show that chatting is the greatest purpose of using social networks and that their users accomplish a level of entertainment and satisfaction using social media. Furthermore, participants are interested in posts published by other people and they value them. The significance of social media literacy varies