Friday, June 26, 2009
Young people across the world enjoy a “beta” life.
New research has been published on how technology has impacted on the social lives of young people in five countries.
A group of organisations including Channel 4, MTV, Nokia and 20th Century Fox commissioned a substantial piece of research into the current use of the digital technologies by young people. Researchers from OTX research interviewed 8,000 12-14 year olds in the UK, America, Germany, India and Japan for the study named "A Beta Life" which was published in June 2009.
The research did reveal headline grabbing attachment or even addiction to technology.
63% of respondents said they would feel anxious or very stressed if they could not use the internet for one day,
41% said they would feel the same about not having their mobile phone for two hours,
25% said they would rather stay at home than go on holiday to somewhere where they did not have internet or phone access.
But, when interviewed about how they used the digital technologies, the most common and popular uses were socially interactive. For example texting was used to enhance the experience of being with someone, not replacing it. 63% said they had texted people they were physically with. This is creative and imaginative use of text to add to their social interaction.
A majority said they would rather listen to music by sharing iPods with a friend, than on their own. The study concluded that "when engaged in digital technology young people prefer activities with a social context". For example texting friends and sharing video content with friends were both preferred to watching video alone on their handheld device.
Asked to name favourite leisure activities – 7 out of the ten were not digital technolgies. The top three favourite pastimes of the 12-14 surveyed were:
- Hanging out with friends,
- Listening to music,
- Seeing boyfriend/girlfriend.
All of these would have probably featured in answers given by their parents or even grandparents at the same age.
The 12-24 year olds surveyed had an average of 7 digital devices which are personally theirs and engaged with them on a regular basis but the patterns of use are not as isolated individuals but as part of complex social relations and networks.
Anxiety over use of digital technologies creating a generation of individuals with less understanding and experience of social interaction are commonplace, but are they missing the point? That the use of digital technologies and social interaction are intertwined for young people.