Young People Embrace The High-Tech World
Despite becoming increasingly tech-savvy, most children aged between 8-14 still prefer their TV to their PCs, according to a new global survey looking at how kids interact with digital technology. Surveying 18,000 “tech embracing” kids (8-14) and young people (14-24) in 16 countries: UK, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The study focused on 21 technologies that impact on the lives of young people: internet, email, PC, TV, mobile, IM, cable and sat TV, DVD, MP3, stereo/hi-fi, digital cameras, social networks, on and offline video games, CDs, HD TV, VHS, webcams, MP4 players, DVR/PVRs, and hand-held games consoles. The study conducted by MTV & Nickelodeon, challenges traditional assumptions about Kids relationships with digital technology, and examines the impact of culture, age and gender on technology use. The study showed how 59% of 8-14 year-old kids still prefer their TV to their PCs, and only 20% of 14-24 year-old young people globally admitted to being ‘interested’ in technology.
Forms of Communication
Japan’s reputation as a land in love with technology is different from the reality. Japanese young people live in small homes with limited privacy, generally don’t have their own PC until they go to college and socialise away from home a lot. As a result their key digital device is the mobile phone because it offers privacy and portability. Unlike young people in other countries, Japanese kids and young people have few online friends. Japanese kids aged 8-14 have only one online friend they haven’t met, compared to a global average of 5, whilst Japanese teenagers have only seven online friends they haven’t met - compared to a global average of 20. Japanese teens also used IM and email the least out of the 16 countries surveyed. China has lower mobile usage amongst young people, a less evolved print media market and a family life of no siblings with parents and multiple grandparents. As a result the internet provides a rare opportunity for only - and lonely - children to reach out and communicate using social networks, blogs and instant messaging. In stark contrast to their Japanese peers, 93% of Chinese respondents 8-14 have more than one friend online they have never met face to face. Chinese kids are living in an utterly changed world compared to their parents, and they would rather find advice and support through their peers online than through their families. Amongst 8-14s globally, only in China was TV not the No. 1 choice. This is encouraging 8-14 in China to select online over TV - a trend not witnessed in any other market. Climate impacts on digital technology too. In countries with a strong outdoor culture, such as Italy, Brazil and Australia, young people use mobiles for arranging to meet, flirt and take pictures of their friends. Northern Europeans take a practical approach to technology, but are perhaps the most immersed in it of all. Out of all nationalities surveyed, young Danes are most likely to say they can’t live without mobiles (80%) or TVs (75%), and young Dutch most likely to say they can’t live without e-mail (85%). Despite the plethora of new communicating tools, a majority in almost every nation expressed a preference for meeting in person, although Japanese, Chinese, Poles and Germans scored higher than others when it came to wanting to communicate online. Only Chinese youth actually expressed a majority preference for texting over face-to-face meetings.
Integrating Tech Into Their Lives
While kids use mobiles and the internet constantly, the survey found that only 20% of 14-24s actually loved technology, and they’re in developing nations such as Brazil, India and China. The people least interested in technology were the Danes and the Dutch – despite saying they couldn’t live without it. Young people don’t see “tech” as a separate entity – it’s an organic part of their lives. Talking to them about the role of technology in their lifestyle would be like talking to kids in the 1980s about the role the park swing or the telephone played in their social lives – it’s invisible. They are completely focussed on the functionality and use of devices. They don’t enjoy texting, or emailing for its own sake – what they enjoy is communicating with their friends all the time. Apart from a few key new media terms, most young people avoided industry jargon. Only 8% of those questioned used the term “multi-platform,” and only 16% admitted to using the phrase “social networking. The terms they use most frequently are those relating to accessing content for free, like “download” and “burn.” They also use brand names rather than category terms, with MSN, Google, and MySpace amongst the most popular. The term “web 2.0” is used by very few people (8%) outside China. Young people also multi-task to a greater extent than adults. They still generally only do one thing at a time, but are able to have more stimuli coming at them and select the one that grabs them at that moment. Kids are very good at filtering the mass of information coming at them – dipping in and out of each.
Internet and TV Compete
The survey revealed a strong dynamic between TV and the Internet, especially for 14-24s. Young people watch TV for stress relief - 60% of the sample said they watched most of their TV lying down. The internet, on the other hand, is cognitive and active, especially if kids are using it for homework or social situations. Kids still love good advertising. While the ‘best ad they’ve seen recently’ is still overwhelmingly on TV, there is the opportunity for marketers to extend their digital advertising across the other technologies kids are engaged with, including IM and social networking sites, especially since 47% of youth IM each other about ‘what is on TV right now.’ And for IM, the top topics for 14-24s were: gossiping (62%), making arrangements (57%), talking about the opposite sex (57%) and flirting (55%), work or school (54%) and TV and music (52%).
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