Social media and screen usage
Social media and games have become an integral part of young people's lives. This has advantages, but screen usage also has negative consequences. Utrecht researchers examine these issues from different angles.
The filter bubble project
On social media information is filtered and adapted for the individual user making use of algorithms. Algorithms can create unpredictable and invisible boundaries between people, sometimes referred to as ‘filter bubbles’. In this project we will research if students are aware of such invisible boundaries created by the algorithmic workings of social media. How do they imagine the workings of algorithms? And what strategies do students use to gain more control over social media?
Young people’s learning in digital worlds: the alienation and re-imagining of education
How does technology impact young people’s perceptions? Contrary to naïve perspectives in which digital media are seen as something neutral or functional, we consider how digital media might impact our perception of what it means to learn. We want to research the way in which learning is re-conceptualized in online communities. How are young people through their engagement with online communities, re-imagining contemporary cultural narratives of learning?
Gaming your way out of trouble
With their research project Beat-it, Margot Peeters and her team want to find out whether games can give young people more control over their behaviour. Together with a game studio, they developed The Fling: a game which allows young people to train their impulse control. ‘We want them to play the game because they like it, not because they're forced into it.’
Political preference is an Achilles heel for fake news
What kind of fake news are young people vulnerable to? And does it even matter these days where the news comes from? Political preference plays a role in this, concludes Eva Janssen, education specialist at Utrecht University, as part of a recent study. “Not just the content of a fake news item is important – the source matters as well.”
More appreciation for texting children
What influence does texting language have on the language development of children with and without a language disorder?
Change your perspective!
What role does education play in young people's media use?
Digital Youth project
Why is it that some young people can easily quit media, while others lose themselves in it completely?
When gaming becomes an addiction
Gaming is becoming more and more accessible, but when do we speak of an addiction?
Our experts
Attention and concentration
The role of parents around social media
Digital society and culture
Games for good
Youth and social media
- Email: l.duits@uu.nl