Social and mobile networks: challenges for research

In recent years, through the scientific impulse and the great evolution of technology, social networks and smartphones have become essential tools for everyday life, triggering debates and very relevant studies on their impact on people. In this symposium, we focus on these two tools to deepen the discussion of how they interfere in socialization processes, in addition to analyzing their addictive potential. We present some implications for intervention and research. If these are the topics of the first two communications, the subsequent ones focus on the use of mobiles in two representative populations, young university students and the elderly.

Paulo C. Dias, Psychologist, has a Master’s degree in Educational Sciences and a PhD in Health Psychology. As professor, he is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of a Psychology course at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Catholic University of Portugal and directs the research group regarding Developmental Pathways and Life Context at the Centre of Philosophical and Humanistic Studies. Since 2009, he has been involved in several National and European funded researches in the educational field (about plagiarism in secondary schools, project-based learning in secondary schools) and in health and addictions (early detection of drug-consumption, alcohol prevention in adolescence, and cannabis prevention). More recently, he has been involved in other projects, especially in excessive use of social networking. During this period, outputs have been published in national and international journals.