INTERNET USE AND THE SPREAD OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATION IN (POST)PANDEMIC CONDITIONS: THE CASE OF SERBIA

Although the Internet and digital technologies have been the basis of a network society for nearly thirty years, pandemic conditions represent a new phase in their use. During the Covid-19 pandemic, work, education, and communication focused on digital technologies. While until then this had been a matter of choice, at least in the private sphere and personal communication, during the pandemic it became the predominant form of communication in all spheres of society. Based on data from the 10th round of the European Social Survey conducted in 2022, the paper analyses how much the Internet has become part of everyday life in Serbia. In the first section of the paper, differences in the intensity of in-person encounters and those realized through digital technologies are examined. Then, the frequency of using the Internet in professional and personal communication and the perception of digital communication are analysed. The assumption is that the pandemic conditions have significantly influenced the increase in the use of the Internet and the intensification of digital communication in working and leisure time. The paper also examines to what extent the attitude towards digital communication depends on demographic and socio-economic characteristics – gender, age, education, place of residence, economic position and occupation. By comparing with the practice in other European countries, we seek to establish whether there are differences across countries.