Las redes sociales virtuales como espacios de ocio digital

Abstract

We live in a digital society where habits and lifestyles have been transformed by the development of the Internet and New Technologies of Information and Communication (ICT). Leisure, understood in this article as an experience of human development (Cuenca, 2000) and vital area, neither has resisted the influence of technology and the virtual sphere, and that caused the generation of new virtual leisures, among which the most important is the use of social networks. They are part of the new leisure practices of Spanish young people and new entertainment formats. Based on the way of understanding the concept of leisure inherent to Institute of Leisure Studies of the University of Deusto and the dichotomy between of serious leisure and casual leisure defended by Stebbins (2008), we try to answer the following approaches: what way has influenced the digital revolution in the field of leisure?, are we faced with new practices of consumer entertainment formats or with digital leisure practices that promote personal development? This will lead us to analyze the uses that young people belonging to the digital generation made of virtual social networks.