Abstract

NEVES, Bárbara Barbosa  and  RENTE, Rita. Non-aligned? Young non-users of social networking sites: a weberian approach. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas [online]. 2017, n.85, pp.107-129. ISSN 0873-6529.  https://doi.org/10.7458/SPP2017856943.

Responding to the dominant body of research on young people and their use of social networking sites, this article analyzes narratives of non-use. Drawing on 30 interviews with young adults, we explored meanings of voluntary exclusion of digital platforms that seem to be progressively embedded in the daily life of this cohort. Findings show that non-use is diverse and transient, being deeply connected to identity(ies) and social actions. As such, we identify four types of non-users: rejecters, resisters, surrogate users, and potential converts. This typology challenges the dichotomies present in the literature around use and non-use, access and non-access, and consumption and non-consumption. We suggest and discuss the sociological perspective and “ideal type” of Max Weber as a valuable analytical approach to deconstruct such dichotomies.

Keywords : young people; youth; social networking sites; non-use; digital exclusion; ideal type; Max Weber.

        · abstract in Portuguese | French | Spanish     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )