Table 2.

Selected participant quotes for the identified themes and subthemes on the risks of digital technology and the Internet.

Themes/Subthemes	Quotations
Dependence on technology	“It is kind funny for me, because when I move from room to room or I just go to the kitchen, I take the mobile phone with me, and I am walking… because I know that it will take a long time until I get to my phone again. I am the type of person, who needs to solve things in the moment, when I get some message, because you never know what kind of message is in your phone. “ “… for example, almost everything is online now, basically everything can be done online, you can do everything online, but if the Wi-Fi does not work, for example, we cannot do almost anything, and if the Wi-Fi cannot be fixed, you can lose everything that you have on Internet and I think that this can be pretty annoying, if it happens.”
Problematic control
Feeling out of control	“… or for example, when I watch a movie, and then I want to see another one, and another, and another, and the fact is that I spend 2 h there by doing nothing…” “I try to spend less time on mobile phone, because when you start – you open the phone, and you just go, you are scrolling, and you just cannot stop doing it.”
Feeling “drowned” in the online world	“So, he/she does not have any other hobbies, aside from the Internet, and he/she does not even perceive reality, but he/she is always with the phone in hands, or watching TV or playing games, so this can be the disadvantage.” “… when I turn on the phone, for example, it is three o clock p.m., and then I actually immerse myself completely in the online world, and when I “wake up” again, it is already dark outside, for example, or that you can see the change in the time, and you did not realise it at all.”
Relationships at the expense of technology	“…Because, really, they can afford more on the Internet. Because they are showing their real face there, but if they come and talk with someone in face-to-face contact, it is harder for them.” “We spend more time with mobile phone or digital technology than with the people that we care about them.”
High bills	“When the Internet bill arrives.” “…and the negative part would be that you sit all the time with it and there is Wi-Fi connection every 300 metres, there, there and there, and then the bills and so on. You know, it does not grow in the garden, as we say.”
Feeling lost in information	“… on one webpage you can find the true and false information as well. So, it should be somehow marked there, that it may not be completely true, or not put it there at all. That there should be only the information that authors of the article are 100% sure that it is actually true.” “…that the webpages where the information can be found, are more verified. So, when I am working on some presentation, or I am looking for some information, I do not need to search for 20 different webpages about the same topic, but there will be one webpage with verified information…”
Vulnerability in virtual space
Feeling insecure about the identity of others	“So, I think that especially social media can be dangerous, as you can be anonymous there. You can introduce yourself under a completely different name, and this can work for the criminals or bullies who provide cyberbullying, for example …” “For example, a lot of people are anonymous, somebody can say a bad thing about you or something like that. And it is anonymous. This person does not need to have a problem because of that. So, it is easy to write something bad to someone, and without any sanctions.”
Feeling “naked”	“…And people should be careful in working with the webpages, where they are required to share a lot of personal information and to not reveal a lot about themselves. It is a misuse of personal data, I think. And I also would not go to the insecure webpages.” “Sometimes we do not even have to share our personal information, but all we have to do is connect to some Wi-Fi, some kind of public Wi-Fi and those people already know everything through Wi-Fi, for example, where I live, how old I am; they just know all my information.”
Being easily exposed to inappropriate content	“Me, as a person who is interested in very strange things, I study conspiracy theories sometimes, and I get immerse so deeply in it, that it starts to scare me and I say to myself in that moment: Well, you should stop with it. Find out.” ” … when the kids are terribly at risk on the Internet, because they can easily get to banned webpages which they do not really need to see yet and it can also happen when they are playing games. …”
Being easily hurt by others	“…There is a Czech movie that came out now, where some girls who were over 18 years old, but they looked younger, had an artificial child’s room. I think it is called “In the network” and it was actually about the fact that those girls played 12–13 years old girls. That they were still kids, and those paedophiles wrote to them, so this is also dangerous from this point of view. Because a little child may not understand it, and this is dangerous and stressful.” “… so, it would not be so easy to get on someone’s profile. Because I have already received so many e-mails that somebody hacked my account. “
Health risks
My body hurts	“… my back and neck start to hurt from sitting at computer, or my eyes because I was looking at computer for a long time.” “… or that I normally feel that I cannot be no longer at the Internet.”
Feeling bad	“…maybe the fact, that on the Internet people share a lot of information from their privacy, and then they envy each other, for example, when he/she puts there a picture of their new car and another one envies it.” “I think that, for example, that some relationships can be destroyed by social media, because it often happens that, for example, I am in some relationship, and jealousness plays a significant role in that relationship, and the partners argue because of social media …”