sept / 09 0
What young people sad about communication tools
A few months ago, a smart 15-year-old intern at the investment bank Morgan Stanley caused quite a stir with a report on teenagers’ media habits. The City seemed amazed by his insights – kids don’t like to pay for stuff, teenagers aren’t on Twitter – though to some observers, they seemed pretty obvious.
But last night a City think tank, the Centre for The Study of Financial Innovation, tried to drill down further into this subject. A panel of teenagers was assembled and interrogated in an attempt to find out what the media habits of Generation Y (or « Generation Whatever » as one cynical father at the session had it) meant for the spending patterns of new customers for financial services.
So here’s some of what the dozen or so young people had to say at what the CSFI described as a « Yoof » round table:
Social
This, to state the obvious, is the « always on » generation. « I’m always online when I’m doing my homework, » said one girl, to a gasp from the adult audience. « I’ve several tabs open (in a browser), and I’m listening to my iPod at the same time. «
And where exactly are they going online? Facebook of course.
It remains the dominant social network in the lives of these teenagers – all seemed to use it to socialise, and as their prime means of communication. Updating your status and sharing photos were the main activities – but they did think the network had some weaknesses. It wasn’t much good for video or music and the chat application was pretty unstable and annoying.
They did see the possibility of moving on to other networks. « Nobody over 25 should be allowed on Facebook, » one girl put it. Her demographic analysis went like this – « Bebo 11-14, Facebook 15-25, Twitter 18 and over. »
One sophisticated 16-year-old said he thought Twitter was beginning to take off amongst his friends. So sophisticated that he was aware of its unreliability as a source of facts: « I posted that a flying horse had been found in Alaska and suddenly I had 100 followers. »
And the girls said Twitter was an attractive way of tracking celebrities.
Phones
This was quite an affluent group, with most having mobile phone contracts, rather than pay-as-you-go phones. Asked how much they spent per month, the figures climbed ever higher from £20 to £35 to £45. Quite a few had high-end handsets like iPhones or Blackberries. Most saw texting as the best way to talk with friends when out – but reverted to Facebook at home « because it’s free ».
Music
Yes, the majority admitted they had downloaded from unauthorised sites. But quite a few of the panel were uneasy about illegal file-sharing – partly on moral grounds, but also citing concerns over quality and security. « Limewire (a popular file-sharing network) is rubbish, » said one. Just about all of them seemed aware of the free streaming service, Spotify.
TV
To the apparent dismay of one of the elderly interrogators – a new media enthusiast – television seemed to have an enduring appeal for the teenagers. Yes, they often watched the BBC iPlayer and YouTube, but some were even tuning into live television if there was a particular programme they wanted to catch.
Advertising
And television advertising seemed to be viewed with a degree of enthusiasm – in stark contrast to web ads. One girl went as far as to say she’d like a whole channel devoted to ads. But a boy summed up the mood of the panel when it came to online advertising – « when you’re online you have a focus – if you’re doing friend stuff you don’t want ads. »
A girl agreed, suggesting TV was more passive – » you accept that you’ll see the adverts there. »
Privacy and security
For all the talk about irresponsible teenagers posting material online without thinking of the consequences, this group all seemed very clued-up about the dangers of online life.
« Yes, of course we understand the privacy settings, we had a session at school about it » was one response when I asked whether they knew how to make sure Mum couldn’t see your Facebook pictures.
« I would never put my personal stuff like banking on Facebook, » said another, apparently unconvinced that it was a safe place to spend money. But they saw mobile phones as more personal than computers, therefore more secure.
Finance
The focus of the think tank session was on how banks and other financial services companies might build relationships with young people, given their new media habits.
While many of the panel had bank accounts and various forms of payment card, they all seemed wary about banks trying to « friend » them. But, it seemed free music might be a draw: the question « If the bank said we’ll give you free tracks, would you be their friend? » from one of the audience got a mildly positive response.
Still, some age-old rules of teenage finance remain constant. How do you pay for stuff online? « Mum’s credit card, » responded one girl, quick as a flash.
So there we have it, a Facebook generation, open to Twitter, wary of online advertising, willing to be wooed away from file-sharing, and increasingly savvy about online privacy.
But then again, as someone said about Morgan Stanley’s report on teenage media habits, « the plural of anecdote is not data ». Maybe it’s time for one of the banks to invest in some real research about Generation Whatever…
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk
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