Do studies level and age matter in learning and social relationship in the assessment of web 3.0? A case study for ‘digital natives’ in Spain

• A growing body of research question the homogeneity of digital natives.
• A assessment of the web 3.0 based on Internet reliability and SNSs is proposed.
• A sample of 152 young people was interviewed by age and educational level.
• Undergraduate increase the assessment of the web for academic and social purposes.

In the recent years, a growing body of research calls into question the homogeneity of digital natives in the knowledge and use of the web. This paper studies the assessment of the current web 3.0 by youth in terms of social networks and the Internet reliability using a model based on univariate and multivariate analysis with structural equations. A sample of 152 young people was interviewed in Spain between August and September 2012 and divided into different subsamples: a sample of Higher Education Students (HES) and a mixed group of young people (MGS) used as the control group. A double analysis is presented using both statistical-descriptive and a comparison between means between the two groups and then a structural equation multivariate analysis is implemented to complete the analysis. This paper concludes that whilst there are strong age and level of education related variations between both samples in the assessment of web 3.0. In particular, higher education students increase the assessment of the web 3.0, not only for purposes of social relationship and friendship but as an important role of knowledge and learning, whether formal or informal and they are able to better harness the Internet resources and social networks, combining both academic and social uses.