ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS AND COMPUTER SKILLS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Currently a large number of college students belong to social networks and spend several hours a week on them. Some sectors of society, like parents and teachers, are concerned about the negative impact on their academic work and in their personal lives. However, because the potential positive impacts have not been explored enough, this research addresses the question: What are the characteristics of online social networks that could facilitate the development of college students skills'? The research was qualitative and was conducted in a private institution of higher education. Twenty-one college students and thirteen college teachers participated. The results show that the characteristics of social networks that favor the development of ICT skills are primarily: 1) environment conducive to learning where students can learn by playing, racing, linking and imitating; 2) rich environment in technology tools, where there are primarily face tools, external tools executed outside the social network, internal tools, and external tools executed within the social network; 3) appropriate environment for the exchange of information, where communication can be: one to one, one to many, one to all contacts and one to all followers.