Today's times are characterised by the use of new technologies that have a great impact on everyone's life. In working life, in private life, but also in education, various electronic devices and technologies are being used, especially mobile phones and tablets, which are the fastest way to connect to social networks, to find out how our friends, our children, are spending their free time, and what they have experienced, how was school, find out quickly the necessary information, for example, what the weather will be like, which places in the world are the most beautiful and so on In this paper we will discuss social networks, which are the most used form of communication at work, at school and in leisure time. Their use brings not only advantages, but also disadvantages and risks. We examined how primary school, secondary school and university students perceive and use social networks, where they see their benefits and, on the contrary, their negatives. We investigated how much time they devote to social networking, which platforms they prefer, whether they feel it reduces their level of success in school or, on the contrary, supports their educational performance, etc. We were interested in whether the respondents had experience of unwanted behaviour on the Internet, and whether they were aware of the risks and prevention in the context of safety on social networks. At the end of the paper we present the most interesting research results and conclusions.

Keywords: Social networks, communication, primary and secondary school students, university students, technology.