- Over the past three months, new technologies have been at the heart of French daily life.
- According to a study by Kaspersky, more than a third of French people (35%) share the idea that it is easier to meet friends online rather than in real life. A strong trend among generation Z (40.9%) and even more among millennials (44.1%).
- “Via social networks and online forums, Internet users can build a new identity, present themselves in a different light.Virtual identity allows you to feel less alone, and to regain self-confidence, ”explains Christine Castelain Meunier, sociologist at CNRS and EHESS, specialist in digital business relationships.
The period of confinement profoundly changed the habits and behavior of the French, in particular with regard to digital uses. Technology has been at the heart of their daily lives for the past three months. According to a study by Kaspersky, more than a third of French people * (35%) today share the idea that it is easier to meet friends online rather than in real life. And almost one in three (32.6%) say they have more self-confidence and are more sociable during virtual meetings. A strong trend among generation Z (40.9%) [born after 1997] and even more among millennials (44.1%) [born between the late 1980s and the late 1990s].
“Young generations are using the virtual world to shape a new version of themselves and socialize. Presenting their ideal image online, their avatar, seems simpler to them than in person, ”explains Christine Castelain Meunier, sociologist at CNRS and EHESS, specialist in digital business relationships , to 20 Minutes . “It's not a new phenomenon, but confinement has exacerbated these behaviors. Via social networks and online forums, Internet users can build a new identity, present themselves in a different light, and feel less alone, "adds the sociologist, who also works at the School of Practicing Psychologists (EPP). .
"The virtual allows you to overcome your fears"
“Virtual identity also helps to regain self-confidence. First by sending / receiving messages, or by audio or video calls, ”adds the sociologist. During the confinement period, many French people indeed used social networks, in particular YouTube or Instagram, to feel less alone. “Showing yourself or filming yourself on a daily basis appeared to be an existential issue, all the more so with the idea of sharing conveyed by social networks. It simply allowed some to feel like they exist, ”analyzes Michael Stora, psychologist and psychoanalyst specialized in the digital world.
"The increased self-confidence, even encouraged by browsing and discovering oneself and others virtually, also seems to indicate that the virtual world uninhibits, but can also translate, for others, the fear of" real "human relationships, firsthand. The fear of not knowing how to make friends easily and quickly with other people, which is quite common in the real world, virtually disappears, ”specifies sociologist Christine Castelain Meunier.The virtual would thus overcome his fears and minimize his real involvement in the relationship, friendly as in love.
Cyber harassment, child crime, phishing…
This taste for virtual exchanges is not without danger. "The illusion provided by what I call an" augmented identity ", in a sort of" performative bubble "sought through social networks, opens the door to phenomena of particularly dangerous grip and dependence which can isolate , desocialize and cut the youngster from his inking in reality, even when he lives with his family, in a shared flat… All the more so since this communication makes it possible to invent a sort of daily mythology, of fables, made of seduction, of illusions, manipulation, glamor, camouflage, persuasion, incantation, regenerative rituals arising from digital technology, ”explains Christine Castelain Meunier.
The study carried out by Kaspersky also highlights “the lack of anchoring” with the risks of this “double identity”. “This mobility of identities can also serve the purposes of the criminals themselves, to whom the most fragile or the least informed are often exposed unconsciously. Creating or recreating a virtual identity is a strategy regularly used in the case of cyberbullying, pedophilia or even simply phishing, ”warns the sociologist, specialist in digital business relationships. The study thus highlights the danger posed by ignorance of cybersecurity risks, which increased with those of connections and the number of people connected during a pandemic.
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* The study was conducted by Arlington Research on behalf of Kaspersky during the containment in 12 European countries, plus Japan.
- Digital
- By the Web
- Internet users
- Cyber harassment
- Phishing
- Avatar
- Internet
- Confinement
- Youth
- Social media