Young people (18-24 years old) live together in a “digital habitat” with an effect on their subjective construction, at a vital moment where their personality is built in the transition to adulthood. It is a personal space, outside the norms of time and the physical universe, and the adult-centric educational perspective. In this intimate space, digital practices are developed on Digital Social Networks (DSN), some exclusive to the digital habitat, others related to a community of belonging in the physical world, with consequences on the identity of young people.

The study (2021-2024), carried out in the framework of a doctoral thesis, has been developed from a qualitative methodology, combining the use of study techniques such as interviews, focus groups and virtual ethnography, with the participation of 23 young people and social educators, in a pioneering area of study in Spain: the study of the effect of social networks use on the development of the subjectivity of young people, without parental care.

The results offer new approach for educators who give support to children and young people living in residential centres (more than 50,000 in Spain), associating the work in the physical universe with the activity of minors in the digital universe, towards better care and equal opportunities.

The presentation will demonstrate that some practices are related to intimate exposure in the digital profile, constituting a risk situation where a “media vulnerability” emerges that not only limits personal expression, but can amplify a situation of social vulnerability (Prola, 2024). On the other hand, the observed practices also point to the construction of “community digital niches” that correspond to the development of an identity of belonging and allow the strengthening of interests connected with communities rooted in the physical world. In this sense, the positive reinforcement of the digital profile helps the development of a subjectivity consciously connected with areas of growth, that is, it has positive consequences on autonomy processes.

The presentation will focus on research conclusions: DSN allow the space of educational containment to be expanded towards a possible existing support outside the family or educational space, offering news scenarios for educational work with young people, as a new educational tool for building the autonomy of young people during their transition to adulthood, thanks to the connection with communities of belonging that are essential for personal well-being and, consequently, support the process of autonomy. They potentially constitute a resource for the construction of autonomy beyond social vulnerability, with the support of the community in the digital space, describing a new pathway for educational studies.

Keywords: Young people, Social Education, Autonomy, Educational Transition, Identity, Digital Social Networks.