From local to virtual communities. Social relations of young people in conditions of imposed spatial distancing

The goal of the project is to investigate the social relations of young people in the conditions of transformations of daily routines under the pressure of measures to combat the coronavirus. Namely, it is maintained that in this way, the previous knowledge concerning the relationship between online and offline social networks in which young people participate will be significantly supplemented (Pavić and Šundalić, 2016). Therefore, in the research, the fundamental question is how young people relate to virtual and traditional/local communities, that is, how they value them, experience them and think that they provide them with support in a crisis situation. Virtual communities are interpreted as those communities that are formed through modern communication technologies and promise the final release of individuals “from social, geographical and even biological limitations” and thus enable them to establish contacts with true like-minded people (Day, 2006). Traditional/local communities, on the other hand, are understood as those communities that, as local neighborhoods, are based on help and trust that is established between the population that shares some physical space. In this case, the community turns the space into a place of meaning. They will also investigate how today, during the COVID-19 pandemic, young people see the situation in Vukovar-Srijem County and some current problems, as well as what their migration aspirations and value orientations are, especially in relation to materialism and consumerism. Members of Pilar’s team: Mateo Žanić, Geran-Marko Miletić, Matea Milak, Krešimir Peračković and Giana Marović Zeko