Author(s): Lesia Horodenko, Yevhen Tsymbalenko
The article studies the media addiction in the professional (journalistic) youth environment. The set objective was reached through the summarising, systematising, analysis and commenting of the longterm experiment (4 years) results on the media addiction studies in youth homogeneous audience (4-year-students during the period 2016-2019). The research was conducted in parallel and sequentially, consisting of pre-experimental stage (initial testing), the experiment itself, and post-experimental stages – retesting and writing essays-reflections. The core of the experiment was a kind of challenge of “24 hours of digital information freedom” when the respondents were required not to use any information and communication digital gadgets. The results of the experiments and surveys were processed and discussed during the colloquiums directly with the participants of the experiment as well as with the coordinators and guarantors of educational programs in Journalism. As the research result, a series of summary tables are presented; equally interesting and relevant are participants' reflections on self-analysis of their own digital addiction (depending on the constant – often unconscious – use of digital gadgets), dependence on communication through social networks, messengers as well as the desire for self-improvement and self-control of their own media activity. In addition, we have encountered a problem with the use of prohibited social networks in Ukraine. Although the statistics of the last year experiment showed a decrease in the number of active users of such social networks, it is yet too soon to talk about not considering them.