Kids and Teens – Globally

PR Newswire is reporting on the New Global Study From MTV, Nickelodeon and Microsoft which challenges assumptions about the relationship between kids, youth & digital technology. It claims to be the largest ever study with over 18,000 ‘tech-embracing’ kids and youth surveyed in 16 countries.
There are lots of nuggets here for good conversations:
“The report found:
— Technology has enabled young people to have more and closer
friendships thanks to constant connectivity.
— Friends influence each other as much as marketers do. Friends are as
important as brands.
— Kids and young people don’t love the technology itself — they just
love how it enables them to communicate all the time, express
themselves and be entertained.
— Digital communications such as IM, email, social networking sites and
mobile/sms are complementary to, not competitive with, TV. TV is part
of young peoples’ digital conversation.
— Despite the remarkable advances in communication technology, kid and
youth culture looks surprisingly familiar, with almost all young
people using technology to enhance rather than replace face-to-face
interaction.
— Globally, the number of friends that young males have more than
doubles between the ages of 13-14 and 14-17 — it jumps from 24 to 69.
— The age group and gender that claims the largest number of friends are
not girls aged 14-17, but boys aged 18-21, who have on average 70
friends.”
“The young people interviewed were in the UK, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. 21 technologies that impact on the lives of young people were featured: the internet, e-mail, personal computers, TV, mobile personal devices, internet messaging, cable and sattelite TV, DVDs, MP3s, stereo/hi-fi, digital cameras, social networks, on and off-line video games, CDs, high definition TV, VHS, webcams, MP4 players, DVR/PVRs, and hand-held game consoles.”
“Digital communications — from IM, SMS, social networking to email — have all revolutionized how young people communicate with their peers.”
The national differences that are highlighted are particularly interesting but kids seem the same around the world, as usual.
The article is worth a glance. It’s not too long.
Stephen