PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF USERS OF SOCIAL NETWORKS

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of the choice of a social network for use depending on the personal characteristics of users. It was found that users of social networks aged 18–35 have self-control, emotional instability and expressiveness. The female sample is characterized by attachment, self-control, emotional instability, and expressiveness. The male sample is characterized only by self-control and expressiveness. They found that the most popular among young Ukrainians are social networks Telegram, Instagram, and TikTok. Users of the Telegram social network are more emotionally sensitive than the sample average. The decrease in indicators is followed by all the primary factors of this category, these users are more characterized by self-sufficiency, self-confidence, and calmness. Men have more emotional stability and more often choose to spend their time on the Telegram social network. Users who spend a large amount of time on the social network Instagram are more inclined to cooperate and are more trusting than the average of the sample of users aged 18–35. LinkedIn users aged 18–35 are more emotionally stable than the entire sample. This may indicate that they take a more serious and realistic view of life, are more aware of the demands of the real world, and feel more adjusted to life. Emotionally stable people keep cool and calm even in adverse situations. They are more often in a good mood than in a bad one. Individuals who actively use the social network Viber are more characterized by introversion than any other subgroup of our sample. Such people are usually restrained, withdrawn, avoid telling themselves, are not interested in other people’s problems. Based on the obtained results, personality profiles were created. Further consideration of this problem can be seen in the studied propensities for Internet addiction, depending on the psychological characteristics of users.