The Use of New Media by Young People in Kosovo

Abstract

The great technological changes that have occurred during the end of the last century and the 21st century have also changed the way of obtaining and distributing information. Great technological progress has given a new dimension to communication and media in general. Today, in the time of new media, Marshall McLuhan’s theory that “the medium is the message” is also changing. This maxim is turning into “the user is the message” and “the user’s information becomes the content of the digital medium” [1]. The Internet and the media have involved almost all of society, especially young people. In the schools of Kosovo, the subject of media education that would help young people to use the new media correctly is still not taught. Therefore, this paper aims to show what the young people of Kosovo use the new media for the most. The research was carried out at the national level with 780 students (respondents) aged 15–18 years in 13 gymnasiums of 7 regions of Kosovo, selected through cluster-sample group analysis, developed in 1950 by Socal, Sneath, and others [2]. From this research, it can be seen that 12.8 percent of the students are all the time accessing these internet media and that more than half of the respondents (52.8 percent) access the internet more than ten times during the day. The new media offer incomparable possibilities compared to the old ones. But, at the same time, the experts in this field also raise the alarm about the violation of privacy, hijacking of the mind, killing of intellectual humility, misinformation, etc.