Research Director Eila Kauppinen, Research Director and Research Professor Sofia Laine (Finnish Youth Research Society) and Professor Sirpa Tani (University of Helsinki) examine the leisure-time movements and mobilities of young people in public, semi-public and private spaces. The article introduces the concept of the social compass, which is used as a tool to show how physical, digital and social elements intertwine when young people move in urban spaces. The traditional compass is based on its ability to show the direction of magnetic north. As young people move and hang out in the city, their orientation is based not only on knowledge of specific physical spaces, but also on real-time information about the movements of other young people, made possible by mobile technology.
The methodological and analytical development of the concept of social compass was initiated by the idea of Research Professor Emeritus Tommi Hoikkala in a research project Youth in the cities during the COVID-19 pandemic conducted between 2020 and 2022. Ethnographic observations and interviews were conducted on young people’s leisure time activities in urban spaces together with detached youth work in the biggest cities in Finland (Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, and Vantaa). Young people were co-researchers, and their experiences were also gathered through the theatre project GÄNG – guided city tour.
The article is available as an open access publication:
Kauppinen, E., Tani, S. & Laine, S. (2024) The Social Compass Guiding the Movement of Young People in and Between Urban Spaces. International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-024-00166-0 (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.)
