Percepciones del alumnado de secundaria acerca de la amistad sincera en Internet

This article explores the perceptions of fourth-year secondary school students regarding the influence of Digital Technologies (ICT) on the development of the social and civic virtue of sincere friendship. For this purpose, a questionnaire including both open and close-ended questions was administered to 131 Spanish secondary students, whose responses were analysed using Atlas.ti.8.4 and SPSS.25. Along with a theoretical framework for understanding the meaning of the virtue under study, an analysis of the students’ perceptions of this virtue on the web was conducted, as well as of their views on the contribution of ICT to personal growth and the development of virtues. Among the results, the students tend to perceive themselves as sincere but think this is not generally the case on the web. In addition, for most of them, social media strengthen friendships. However, when asked about the kind or quality of the relationships facilitated by these technologies, their perceptions are not so positive. In conclusion, an explicit focus on virtues when engaging with ICT not only fosters better practice in online environments but also generates a positive perception of the digital context when virtuous behaviours are identified and explored within it. Therefore, we strongly recommend adopting an explicitly virtue-based approach to digital education programs.