Digital Young

My interest in this subject was to point out the various forms of socialization for young people and their ways of appropriation of social space. A first classification can be made in function of frequented spaces: indoor and outdoor socialization. There is a strong identification with Bucharest urban space, specially for those teens born in Bucharest. Spare time is also organized in function of daily activities. Mainly, in Bucharest, socialization places frequented by young people depend on time, moment and activities.

Peer group…	With colleagues…
Indoor …

Ex: during the week, as they have classes, socialization is expressed through time spent with friends either it is realized indoor or outdoor. In the morning or in the daytime, socialization if for making activities with peer group (pubs, cafes around high schools or colleges).

Here, I saw a gender differentiation: girls usually have the habit to socialize in groups of two, as they are interested to spend time with their best friend. Activities that have to be the same and interest are made concrete by going everywhere together (shopping centers, libraries, little clothing shops, cafes). For boys, this time is used differently; the socialization logics is different than the girls’ one. They socialize in big and various groups: school group, football group, clubbing groups.

Girls …	Girls …
and Boys ….	Skaters
Break dancers

Sometimes, these groups are constituted from different people, sometimes they converge (meaning that friends from a group can take part to constituting another type of group). This variety of socializing groups is for boys very effective, in the way that they function as more diversified and relaxed social relationships. Girls have more chances to be disappointed, because they invest emotionally in one person (the best girl friend) and here, dramas are more frequent and more powerful in terms of impact. Therefore boys spend time with friends that they make in different activities (sports, computers, games).

Evening time is differently allocated. For girls, it’s time to spend with peer group (their friends). Also, in the evening, time is used for communicating with boyfriend / girlfriend and meeting with him / her. In the case of teenagers, boys wait for their girlfriends when they finish classes and after that, the boy accompanies her on the way home. They may have the same route or not. If they have money, the boy takes out the girl (to have a drink or to eat something); but this is valid just for teenagers with a good financial status. In the other cases, teen boys just spend time with their girlfriend in cheaper ways. If a meeting is not possible (one of them(one of them is not available), they go home and they will communicate through Instant Messenger or by mobile phone.

This scenario is characteristic to teenagers. Being a student, the social status is changed, meaning that they become more independent, they are seen differently by their parents (as acquiring a more serious and adult position). Their life style becomes more and more demanding (going outs, parties, clothes etc). Relationships occupy a big space of their life.

Time and spaces for socialization becomes from outdoor marked (as teenagers) to indoor specifics. In both cases of relationships (friendships or love involvements), they have to meet in a certain place and in a certain moment. The organization of time becomes more important, due to another social dynamics of their life, inscription in work field. Time and space become more compacted and students start working from first year of faculty or second year from two main reasons (they might be more numerous, but we’ve seen only two of them): a more demanding lifestyle and the instability of work market. Urban life in Bucharest becomes more and more expensive, from rent payment to other utilities; pleasures become, them too, more expensive (books, clothes, spare time, socialization going-outs). In this dynamics, they order their time, therefore it becomes labeled: faculty time (who is less and less represented), work time (more and more represented), socializing time.

Students socialize in pubs and cafes that are placed in the surroundings of their faculty or work place. That is valid for week time. In the evening, they try to see their friends, but that becomes very difficult, due to the fact that they spent almost all time at work. Weekends remain the major time possibilities to explore, in order to socialize and see their friends. They can stay in Bucharest and explore the weekend cultural activities (theatre, clubs, concerts, pubs with live concerts as Green Hours, Laptaria lui Enache). Mostly, they gather around University Place and Ancient Centre of Bucharest, where they go for socializing discussions, dancing or listening to music of different genders. Students who are not from Bucharest, go home (once at two weeks) in order to bring food and take some money from their parents.

Their inscription in work field depends on faculty’s profile; if the faculty is too demanding (as the Politehnica University or Medicine University), they can’t work. But these students are under-representative from the number point of view. Most of students get a job, in a part-time system or full-time. Weekends can be used for going-outs of Bucharest, for those students who have a more important financial status (they have a job or their parents give them a substantial monthly allowance). These going-outs depend on the season: seaside in the summer and 1^st of may and in the mountains during winter. Again, they choose the resort in function of their finances. But if they are strongly interested in one activity that can take place in one expensive resort (as Poiana Brasov or Sinaia), they do not care so much about the money.