The Second Generation and the Use of the Internet: Communication and Friendship Structures of Young Turks in Vienna, Austria

How does new media and technology influence migrants and their children? Based on a sample population of young Austrians of Turkish descent, this research project links questions of identity creation and social networks of the second generation with the controversial discourse about the potential usefulness and risks of new media and technologies. i We investigate the Internet use of members of the second generation whose background is working-class differentiating between the consumption of information and entertainment technology and active involvement and creative work through gaming. Focusing on identity formation and friendship structures, our findings point to education as the key distinction between the young Austrians of Turkish descent who regularly engage online in creative high-threshold activities and those who use the Internet for low-threshold consumption purposes only.