The Conceptual Apparatus Evolution in Research on Digital Socialization of Modern Adolescents

Aim. To analyze and operate the conceptual framework, describing the impact of digital technologies on the socialization of modern teenagers.

Methodology. Through comparative and conceptual analysis, the four key concepts such as “digital environment”, “mixed reality”, “hybrid reality”, and “convergent reality” are differentiated and consistently revealed.

Results. It is shown that the study of the concepts evolved from analysis of external conditions to understanding of the internally assimilated, holistic life world of a teenager, where the digital and the physical surroundings form an inseparable continuum of experience. It is concluded that the concept of convergent reality has the greatest heuristic potential, focusing on the activity of a teenager who is mastering and constructing his social being in new conditions.

Research implications. An attempt is made to bridge the methodological gap between observed new behavioral phenomena and outdated theoretical constructs. Clear differentiation and operationalization of these concepts provide a framework for adequate empirical research and practical interventions in the fields of education, psychology, and digital security.

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