Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

20% of Kids Say Their Parents Have No Idea What They Do Online

Surveying 2,800 kids about their online lives and experiences, The Norton Online Family Report found 20 percent saying their parents have no idea what they are doing online.

The study, conducted by research company StrategyOne, expands on the number of countries surveyed in 2008 and 2009, focusing on the gaps between parents and kids with respect to their online beliefs and behaviors.

Parents are reported to be more aware of how much time their children are spending online. In 2008, Norton found that kids reported spending nearly 10 times as much time online as parents realized. In 2009, the gap shrunk to kids reporting being online twice as much as parents realized. This year, kids and parents are fully in sync about the about the amount of time kids spend online. Kids actually want more parental involvement in their online lives, with nearly nine in 10 reporting they follow family rules for Internet use.

However, other gaps remain. Though almost seven in 10 kids say they would turn to their parents if something bad happened online, only 45 percent of parents realize their kids are having negative experiences. Over six in 10 kids said they have had negative online experiences — from exposure to nudity and violence to having a stranger try to meet them in real life.

Nearly half the kids surveyed said they believe they are more careful online than their parents.

To browse the entire Norton report, click here.

Source: Social Times
http://www.socialtimes.com/2010/06/kids-s-online-norton-report

Teens Prefer Texting

In a recent survey by ExactTarget, U.S. teens (ages 15-17) say they prefer texting over other methods of communication including email and Facebook.

Texting was the communication activity teens were most likely to report having increased over the past six months, according to the ExactTarget survey. There were also significant numbers of teens using Facebook, meeting in person and communicating via e-mail more, but most respondents held those activities steady.

 

Source: eMarketer
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007737

Alcohol Companies Use New Media to Lure Young Drinkers

Alcohol companies are increasingly using the latest new media technologies -- including cell phones, social networking sites, YouTube and other features of the expanding digital universe -- to reach young drinkers, a new report contends.

And existing regulations may not be keeping up with the marketing trend, the report's authors added.

They're calling on the Federal Trade Commission, state attorney generals and others to investigate the phenomenon and examine whether current mechanisms to protect youth from alcohol marketing still work effectively in the digital era.

Young people are being exposed to a 24/7 "digital marketing ecosystem that is transforming the nature of advertising," said Kathryn Montgomery, a professor of public communication at American University in Washington, D.C. and co-author of the report, titled Alcohol Marketing in the Digital Age.

One area the study authors want officials and activists to look at is weak age-verification mechanisms, pointing out how easy it is for a young person to enter a false birth date so they are legally "of age" to enter a Web site.

According to the report, the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth estimates that underage drinking accounts for 12 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. alcohol market.

There are several major distribution platforms, the report authors stated, the first being social networking sites such as Facebook, where not only can companies promote their own brands, but they can enjoin consumers to promote their brands, too.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2010/05/19/alcohol-companies-use-new-media-to-lure-young-drinkers-report.html

YouTube Turns 5

Is it just me or does it seem like YouTube has been a part of the fabric of our culture for more than five years?

Early this year, the most popular YouTube video of all time — a 2007 clip of a British toddler gleefully biting the finger of his older brother — was supplanted by a brash newcomer.

The upstart was Lady Gaga’s slithering, sci-fi-themed music video for her hit single “Bad Romance.”

The shift was symbolic: YouTube, a subsidiary of the search giant Google, is growing up. Once known primarily for skateboard-riding cats, dancing geeks and a variety of cute-baby high jinks, YouTube now features a smorgasbord of more professional video that is drawing ever larger and more engaged audiences.

On Monday, YouTube will celebrate its fifth birthday by announcing it has passed two billion video views a day; YouTube said it reached the one billion mark in October.

Google executives said in January that the site, which has perennially lost money, had increased its revenue, and that ad space on YouTube’s home pages for 20 countries was sold out every day toward the end of 2009. Many analysts say YouTube could break even this year for the first time, after five years of large losses generated by its high bandwidth and storage costs.

Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/technology/17youtube.html?hpw

College Students Struggle to Go Without Media for 24 Hours

Internet and media addiction is not officially a psychiatric disorder, but many college students still seem to be suffering from it. In a recent study done by the University of Maryland, students who were asked to give up their media connections experienced withdrawal symptoms similar to those seen in drug and alcohol addicts, including cravings, anxieties, and preoccupation to the point of being unable to function well.

The students were asked to give up all media for 24 hours, including text messages, TV shows, music, e-mail, and Facebook, and to do so on all sources, including cell phones. Some of the students equated the stipulation to being entirely socially closed off from friends and family.

Many experienced cravings and anxiety because of their temporarily cut ties. One student called their dependency "sickening"; another spoke of texting and IM-ing giving him "a constant feeling of comfort" and said that the moratorium made him feel "alone and secluded" from his own life.

Source: ars technica
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2010/04/college-students-struggle-to-go-without-media-for-24-hours.ars

Recap: Teens and Mobile Phones

Last week I posted about the Pew Internet study documenting the latest statistics on teens' use of mobile phones and revealing that text messaging is their chief method of communication. Today, I'm following up with a graphic from Pew that displays a summary of how teens communicate with friends by different methods. Also, there's a good summary of Pew's findings at the source link below.

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones.aspx

Third of U.S. Teens with Phones Text 100 Times a Day

A third of U.S. teenagers with cell phones send more than 100 texts a day as texting has exploded to become the most popular means of communication for young people, according to new research.

The study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which offers a glimpse into teen culture and communication, found that texting has risen dramatically even since 2008, eclipsing cell phone calls, instant messaging, social networks -- and talking face-to-face.

The Pew Research Center said that three-fourths of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 now own cell phones and of those that do, girls typically send or receive 80 text messages per day and boys, 30 per day.

"Texting is now the central hub of communication in the lives of teens today, and it has really skyrocketed in the last 18 months," Pew researcher Amanda Lenhart said, attributing the rise in part to payment plans that allow unlimited texting.

Text messaging has become so much a part of teenagers' lives that 87 percent of those who text said that they sleep with, or next to, their phone.

The percentage of teens with cell phones who sent at least one text message a day increased from 38 percent in 2008 to 54 percent in September 2009, according to the study.

Source: Washington Post / Reuters / Pew Internet and American Life Project
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042000215.html

Full report by Pew Internet:
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones.aspx

Apple Remains Strong in Teen Tech Market

Interests in Apple's iPhone amongst high school teenagers is on the rise, according to a new study from investment research firm Piper Jaffray, which found that nearly twice as many students are planning to buy one of the touchscreen handsets in the next 6 months compared to last year.

During the firm's 2009 spring survey, 8% of students surveyed owned iPhones and an additional 16% expected to buy an iPhone in the following 6 months. But in its most recent study, the iPhone's share amongst teens rose to 14%, while planned purchases nearly doubled to 31%.

Meanwhile, Apple's market share in the portable media player (PMP) category was 92%, up from 87% in the study six months ago. Overall, 86% of students own a PMP (down from 90% six months ago). Interest in buying a PMP in the next 12 months, including first time buyers and replacements, pulled back slightly to 31% (down from 40% six months ago but in line with historical averages). Of those planning on buying a PMP in the next 12 months, 91% expect to buy an iPod.

Source: AppleInsider
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/12/number_of_high_school_students_planning_to_buy_an_iphone_doubles.html

Study of Chatroulette Investigates User Demographics

I've posted before about the website Chatroulette, and it's wise to keep your kids away from this increasingly popular site. A recent study of who is using Chatroulette was recently posted on TechCrunch. Here's what investigators found:

Chatroulette is 89% Male, 47% American, And 13% Perverts

User Ages: About 20% of users were under 20, about 70% were in their 20s & 30s, and about 10% were over 40.

If you’ve ever used Chatroulette, you probably noticed that not everyone is there just to chat. Some users, which we have affectionately labeled “perverts,” fit into any of these three categories:

• Appear to not be wearing any clothes whatsoever
• Are displaying explicit nudity
• Appear to be committing a lewd act

The overall pervert rate in Chatroulette is 13%. This means about 1 in 8 chat sessions will have something decidedly Rated R (or NC-17) on the other end. Of the perverts that were identified, only 8% were female. Combined with the overall female rate, that means less than 1% of chats feature a female pervert.

Source: TechCrunch
http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/16/Chatroulette-stats-male-perverts/

More Teens Text

More teens are choosing texting over instant messaging as their preferred method of communication, according to the latest TeenMark study from Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI).

Some 57% of teenagers report they text messaged on their cell phones in the last 30 days, compared to 42% who instant messaged on a computer in the same time frame, according to the TeenMark study.

With affordable unlimited texting plans available from most cell phone carriers, it’s easier than ever for teenagers to use their thumbs to communicate. The number of teens who text has increased 50% since 2007, vs. a 13% decline in the number of teens using instant messaging. Texting is now the #1 feature teens use on mobile cell phones, aside from making phone calls.

Not only are more teens texting, there is ample evidence that texting holds an important place in teens’ lives. For instance, 78% of teens who text agree that “text messaging is an important part of my daily life.” And, 75% of texting teens report they text while watching TV. The most common reason teens text is to communicate with friends and family.

Source: Wireless and Mobile News
http://www.wirelessandmobilenews.com/2010/02/more-teens-text-txtng-vip-2teens-says-mri.html