How the Use of the Internet Affects the Attitudes of Serbian Citizens about Public Institutions

Alma Dobardžić – State University of Novi Pazar, Vuka Karadžića bb, 36300, Novi Pazar, Serbia

Abstract: There is no doubt that digital literacy and the increasing use of the Internet are making economies more productive. The free flow of infor­mation and the ease with which it can be accessed means that informa­tion sources such as the Internet have a great influence on the formation of public opinion and the making of individual decisions. The article inves­tigates how the use of the Internet and the trust Serbian citizens show to­wards state institutions are connected. For this purpose, data from The Eu­ropean Social Survey (ESS) were used, in which more than 3,500 residents of Serbia were surveyed and the attitudes of Internet users towards the state of the economy, democracy, the work of the national government, the edu­cation and health system, as well as trust in the legal system and the police were examined. Respondents were categorized according to the frequen­cy of Internet use, age and gender. The results of the descriptive statistical analysis showed that the more often they use the Internet, the less trust res­idents have in the state. If we consider that young people spend the most time on the Internet, it is easy to assume that losing trust in institutions and responsible people can have very negative long-term consequences for the entire society.

7th International Scientific Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology, Tourism, Economics, Management and Agriculture – ITEMA 2023 – Conference Proceedings, Hybrid (Faculty of Organization and Informatics Varaždin, University of Zagreb, Croatia), October 26, 2023

ITEMA Conference Proceedings published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ITEMA conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Varaždin; Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Institute of Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland; Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”King Michael I of Romania”, Romania

ITEMA Conference 2023 Conference Proceedings: ISBN 978-86-80194-75-2, ISSN 2683-5991, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.2023

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission.

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