There are enough research findings and factoids floating around "the internets" to do a roundup post today. First up, and most interesting to me, is Ars Technica's summary of a new UK report on the habits of the "Google Generation." In a nutshell, kids today, while often labeled "Digital Natives," are not so hot at searching (they're also not so hot at changing default settings or other aspects of using technology we assume they're good at). They prefer visual/graphics vs. text, understand credible vs. not credible sources better than we think they do, like to copy and paste (and plagiarize) and are expect instant results no more than adults do these days. And they're not just multi-tasking, they're "parallel processing."
Next up are some factoids MarketingVOX pulled from Decades of Data that attempt to paint a picture of a generation that is interacting less in person.
- Since 1998, the number of young adults participating in team sports has decreased from 19 percent to 13 percent.
- The amount of time spent with computers has drastically increased, from 8 percent to 21 percent.
- The number of young adults going out to the movies has decreased from 13 percent in 1998 to just 3 percent in 2008.
- The number of adolescents staying home to watch television or rent videos has increased from 24 percent in 1998 to 32 percent in 2008.
I'm curious to know if participation in individual sports has risen -- and I would guess that a lot of teens staying home renting DVDs (not videos!) are watching in groups.
And in "good news," this year’s Lemelson-MIT Invention Index found that American teens think they can save the world or invent something that can. From Science Daily:
Nearly three out of four American teens (72 percent) believe technological inventions or innovations can solve some of our pressing environmental issues within the next decade, including global warming, water pollution and fossil fuel depletion. Nearly two-thirds of teens (64 percent) are confident they could invent some of these solutions. This contrasts with only 38 percent of adults who believe they could invent something to help protect and restore the natural environment. Of those adults, more than half are 18-24 years old.
And finally -- Ypulse reader Bob sent me this study of UK MySpace users that identifies different types of social networkers. They include:
Essentialists: 38%
People who use social networking sites to stay in touch with friends and family.
Transumers: 28%
People who follow the lead of others and join groups connected to their interests.
Connectors: 10%
People who revel in passing on information and links whenever they come across something they find interesting.
Collaborators: 5%
People who use social networking sites to create events.
Scene Breaking: 5%
People who hunt down media (bands, blogs, video) online and share that through the site.
Netrepreneurs: 4%
People who accessed the sites for the sole purpose of making money.
You know, I used to be mostly an "essentialist" on MySpace and Linked In until Facebook brought out the ""transumer," "connector," and "collaborator" in me.
Posted by anastasia
Marketing
Comments
RE "Transumers: 28%
People who follow the lead of others and join groups connected to their interests."
I don't like that the study associates joining MySpace groups connected to one's interests with "follow(ing) the lead of others."
If one wants to describe joining MySpace groups that way, then the same phrase could be applied to most human behavior.
None of us lives in a vaccuum.
Posted by: Eric Jaffa | January 18, 2008 10:58 AM
Holy crap about the movie thing.
I've been thinking for a while that the movie biz is headed towards the same place as the music biz but that stat is pretty shocking.
Posted by: Gavin | January 18, 2008 11:35 AM
I actually asked teens about movies explicitly. They'd much rather go to the movies, but all have reasons for why they can't: not allowed cuz it's dangerous, too expensive, can't get a ride and the big movieplexes are only drivable, etc. I worry that that report signals a cause/effect which is dead wrong.
Another thing to note: sports have become hyper competitive in schools and one of the regular explanations I get from teens about why they are not on teams is: I'm not good enough. Intramurals seems to be a thing of the past, which is super sad.
Marketing VOX sounds like they're framing it to blame technology, but what I'm finding consistently is that technology appears to fill in for things taken away by other forces.
Posted by: zephoria | January 18, 2008 9:29 PM
>> Netrepreneurs: 4%
I thought this was very interesting. I don't have much interest in using social networking sites for social purposes. My networks just use e-mail. This was the first time I've seen social networking users categorized. Very useful.
>>Transumers: 28%
To find interests ... yes. It's very useful.
I think a lot of people, once they figure out RSS subscribe, are moving to blogs. I also find that blogs give you more control of your information.
Case
http://www.planguy.com
Posted by: Case | January 19, 2008 2:24 PM
>>Since 1998, the number of young adults participating in team sports has decreased from 19 percent to 13 percent.
The number of female athletes, however, has increased for both team and individual sports. For example, participation in softball for females has increased 5% from 2002 - 2006. Girls participation in soccer has increased 8% in the same period of time. Girls participation in skateboarding and snowboarding has increased 5% since 2002. BMX and ice hockey have also seen large increases in girls particpation.
>> The number of young adults going out to the movies has decreased from 13 percent in 1998 to just 3 percent in 2008.
With ticket prices (in Los Angeles) at $12.00 (add another 5 bucks for popcorn), it's hard for even adults to go out to the movies!
Posted by: Jane | January 22, 2008 4:23 PM