The OnLife self: CONECT-ID. Construction of Youth Identity in a Hyperconnected World

Abstract

The information era, along with the technologization process, makes it difficult to avoid the use of technological devices and the hyperconnectivity that they entail. In recent years, advances in technology have generated a considerable and extensive wave of changes and transformations in all areas of life, including the self. In the case of young people, the effects of this hyperconnectivity are being experienced with greater intensity since they are in the middle of their identity development. Hence, digital devices may be influencing the identity definition of our younger generations. Due to the importance of the construction of the self, we should pay attention to this phenomenon from a pedagogical and anthropological perspective. In this sense, the aim of these paper is twofold: on the one hand, to provide an explanation for the construction of the self in a digital world. And, on the other hand, from a neutral position, considering that technologies are neither intrinsically liberating nor completely trap or enslave us, but depend on our thoughts and uses, we present the project CONNECT-ID, its phases, objectives, hypothesis, methodological framework, and any possible unanswered questions.