Young People & Digital Technology A summary of current behaviour and future trends Prepared with care by: Curative for Ministry of Youth Development June 2015 [v1.0] 1
Background The following document is a summary of current behaviour and future trends of how young people aged 12-24 are using digital technology in New Zealand. This report is not a formal piece of research, but rather a summary of insights uncovered via the following methods: • A workshop in Wellington and Gisborne which explored how young people are using technology and provided NZ based insights. • An informal survey distributed via Facebook with a one-week response period, which asked young people in New Zealand to share their digital technology behaviour. The survey garnered 912 responses. • A literature review of existing research to determine the current understanding of young people’s use of technology. This information was largely international, with limited research about NZ behaviours available.
Contents Workshop Findings • Workshop Findings
05
• Daily Technology Use
07
• Understanding the Future of Technology
09
• Urban v/s Town Responses
11
Survey Responses • Survey Responses
13
• Respondent Profile
14
• Access to Technology
15
• Social Media Sites and Apps
17
- Usage Frequency & Awareness
19
- Who are Youth ‘Social’ with Online?
20
- Social Media & Wellbeing
22
• Time Spent Online
24
• Creating v/s Consuming
25
• Making Money Online
26
• Spending Money Online
28
• Digital Technology and the Real World Experience
29
• New & Emerging Technology
30
International Observations • International Observations
Emerging Trends
32
• Emerging Trends & Fiuture Predictions
36
• The Digital Dimension
37
• The Internet of Things
38
• Shifting Revenue Models for Games & Entertainment
39
• Social Media Fragments Again
40
• The Tablet Takeover
41
• Mini Merchants
42
Executive Summary • Executive Summary
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Workshop Findings 4
Workshop Findings Curative facilitated two workshops to explore how young people are using technology in New Zealand. The first workshop was held in Wellington on Wednesday 17 June, with 8 participants. And, the second workshop was held in Gisborne at Te Wananga o Aotearoa with approximately 25 participants. The two workshops helped us to understand the role that technology plays in young people’s lives, and explore if there are any differences in the way urban young people and town based young people are using technology.
Overall the workshops revealed: • Technology is a very important part of all young people’s lives, and is used daily. • Young people are almost always connected, and use technology (in particular social media like Facebook) as their main means for communication. • Cost is a major barrier for greater use of technology; and young people are often looking for ways to access services, information, music, data etc. for free. - In general, all of the young people involved could name places to access free wifi. - If at a friend or family members home it was common to ask for the wifi password. • There are little to no perceived consequences for illegally downloading movies, songs or other media. • Technology is becoming more and more integrated into education, with laptops and tablets being used more frequently in the classroom. • Young people feel that they have a greater understanding of technology than their parents, and are often part of the decision making about technology within the home. • Social Media is a part of daily life. It’s a means for communicating, sharing life events (or even daily occurrences), and connecting with new people. - There was some indication that Social Media engagement such as the level of comments or likes that people get is representative of their popularity – almost a form of social currency. 5
• Online Gaming on many different devices is an important part of many young people’s lives, and relationships are formed with other players all over the world. • Social Media is the main means for young people to follow trends, gather news, and learn new things. Some commented that ‘if it hasn’t happened on Facebook, it hasn’t really happened’. • Parents and Caregivers seem to have little involvement or say over how young people interact with and use technology - However, parents and caregivers are strong enablers of technology use, often providing financial support for the purchase of new equipment, or credit cards for online purchases - Much like in real life, young people find it embarrassing for their parents and caregivers to ‘hang out’ in the same places that they do online.
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Daily Technology Use Through the workshops we asked the participants to create personas which were representative of young people like them. Using these personas, they then explored what a day in their life would look like. While each of the personas created differed slightly, there were huge similarities in how they perceived young people used technology on a typical day.
An indicative day for a young person is as follows: •
7am: wake up - Due to phone alarm going off - And check social media on smartphone.
•
8am: get ready for school, eat breakfast. - For some, if breakfast looks particularly good they’ll Instagram a picture of it.
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9am: Go to School/University or Work - If going to a new or different location, people would use maps features on their smartphones to find directions.
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9am - 4pm: While at School/University or Work - Use smartphone regularly to Facebook Message, Snapchat, iMessage or Instagram friends. Often they will keep their phones on them, and use them even when they are not supposed to. - If they are unable to keep their phones on them, they make it a priority to check messages and social media in their breaks. - Laptops and Tablets are used throughout the day to do research (often aided by google or wikipedia), to complete assignments, and to keep an eye on social media, or online games.
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5pm - 7pm: Sports training or spend time with friends. - The only time (other than sleeping) that young people tended to stop their use of technology is when playing sports or going to the gym. However text messaging or Facebook messaging was often used to coordinate getting to and from sports. - If not playing sports, spending time with friends could involve gaming. This may be a group together at one person’s house, or ‘meeting’ friends online to game together.
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7pm - Meal time - We didn’t discuss whether or not meals were technology free times. However, given the proliferation of young people’s use of technology, we imagine that even meal times involve checking smartphones. It was also mentioned that Facebook or text message is the primary mode for communicating with their parent; even when they are in the same house.
•
8pm - 11pm - Watching television programmes, movies or catching up online. - Young people are generally using tablets or laptops to download or stream television programmes or movies, so that they can watch them when they want to. However, if young people are watching TV with their parents, it’s more likely to be scheduled broadcast television. - Young people also suggested that they can spend entire evenings ‘online’. They’re not sure what they do in this time as it seems to ‘disappear’, but it may include doing (a little) homework, checking Facebook, watching YouTube videos, looking for new music, chatting online with friends, reading Tumblr blogs, watching and making dub-smash videos as well as making and sharing funny memes.
•
11pm: On weeknights, young people will go to bed around this time. - But, if it’s the weekend, they’re likely to go out with friends, with the intention of getting drunk. - It’s common for young people to share their evenings by posting photos on Facebook, Instagram or SnapChat. - Facebook messages, texts, Viber messages and WhatsApp messages are used a lot throughout the evening to coordinate meeting up with others. And finally, if they meet new people during the evening, it seemed common to add people as friends on Facebook, rather than swapping phone numbers, as a way to stay in contact.
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Understanding the Future To end the workshops, we asked young people to imagine what could be possible with technology in the future.
In Wellington, the ideas that were generated seemed to build on current and existing technology, showing that there was some understanding of what might be possible in the foreseeable future.
Wellington ideas included: “It’s your life” An app that includes all the details, documents and records to help you navigate your life. This could include passport details, and travel history, your academic records and learning tools to help complete programmes and classes, and medical records and self diagnosis tools. 4D Gaming: A gaming programme that allows you to feel the sensations of the game, whether it’s wind blowing through your hair as you run, hits if you’re in a fight game, or even ‘floating towards the light’ if you die in game. These ideas showed that young people are very open to sharing and storing information online, especially if it makes life easier for themselves. The concept of privacy was explored, and there was a level of trust that with encryption to a device, information would be secure. The gaming idea also showed young people’s appetite for experience. While the idea was largely focused on Gaming, there was also suggestion that you could use it to have a ‘4D holiday’ transporting yourself to anywhere you like, to see and feel what you might while there, using the programme. 9
In Gisborne, the ideas seemed to largely mirror technology that has been featured in sci-fi and action movies. While exciting and fun, the ideas seemed to be removed from reality, and less likely to be achieved in the near future.
Gisborne ideas included: Iron Man Suit: A suit that you wear, or that follows your movements, that includes GPS tracking, the ability to fly, and a self-diagnosis and healing function. The Limitless Pill: A pill that allows you to access 100% of your brain capacity so that you can achieve anything, and obtain anything you want. Food Bullets: A tiny pill that you can put into the microwave, programme what food you’d like it to be (like McDonalds), and then that food will appear in an instant. Time Travel Car: A flying car that runs on water or solar power which includes an instant knowledge chip and allows you to travel through time. The Eyenstein: A programme where you can download any information you need anytime via a contact lense that projects information into your brainwaves Blink Transportation: A programme that allows you to blink to get to a new location. Blinking would take you to a new blink station only, to protect against people blinking into private locations. While the ideas in Gisborne seem less achievable, they do show that there is a strong desire for technology to be used to simplify life; in particular to make it easier to travel, to prepare food and to learn new information.
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Urban vs. Town While the number of participants in Wellington and Gisborne varied greatly, there were still some interesting insights into the difference between the way that young people living in urban areas, and those living in towns interact with technology. These differences included: • Wellington young people had a greater awareness and usage of current, new and emerging technology, and were prepared to pay for new products and services. - This includes an understanding of new release dates for devices. • Gisborne young people would largely only use technology if it was freely available. • Wellington young people were unlikely to spend time without technology, with some even having backup devices. • Gisborne young people would often have technology with them, but were comfortable having some time in a day without it, especially if they were playing sports or in the outdoors. • Wellington young people source almost all of their news and current affairs online. • Gisborne young people would still source some of their news from newspapers and television news. These insights show that perhaps young people in urban centres are more likely to be early adopters of new technology, while those living in rural areas or smaller towns are more likely to follow trends, and use technology once it’s more freely available.
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Survey Responses 12
Survey Responses Due to the low volume of New Zealand specific data to review for this report, a survey was undertaken to gain insight into the current engagements between young people (12-24) and digital technology. The survey was distributed via Facebook, and data was collected from Monday 15 June – Monday 22 June.
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Respondent Profile Age: The informal survey had 912 respondents, split into granular age groups to get a better idea of the differences between young people’s engagement by age.
What is your age? Response Percent
Response Count
12 or 13
18.8%
171
14 or 15
49.7%
453
16 or 17
23.0%
210
18 to 20
3.4%
31
20 to 24
5.2%
47
Answered question:
912
Residential Zoning: Half of all respondents were city dwellers, with 33% self-identifying as living in a “town� and the remaining 17% living rurally. Ethnic background: 80% of respondents identified as European/Pakeha, and were allowed to indicate as many ethnic backgrounds as they identified with. Maori was the second most represented group, with 13%, followed by Asian identifiers at 9%. Gender: Surprisingly, females were overrepresented in the data at 73%, two people indicated non-binary gender, and the rest were male. In other studies reviewed for this report, males were more highly represented, potentially due to higher perceived safety and confidence with the subject matter of Digital Technology. The high representation of young women will likely result in a more socially skewed resulting set of data.
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Access to Technology Internet at home: 84% of respondents indicated they connect to the internet via broadband at home, for the high number of urban and “town” zoned respondents, this is expected. • 2% use 3G (mobile data) to connect to the internet at home, 13% don’t know how they connect at home but do have access. • No respondents indicated use of dial up, and only four do not have internet access at home. Phone or Tablet credit: 58% of respondents say their parents pay for their mobile credit, this is unsurprising considering 90% are under 18 years of age. • 36% buy their own credit, and of the remainder, most indicated they split the payments with their parents.
Cellphone network: Spark has the highest share of customers in our sample, at 36%. Those who indicated “other” either have no phone, no network service, or use multiple providers.
Device access at home: Mobile phones are very very popular among our sample, 93% own their own smartphone and use it at home, 98% have access to a smartphone at home that they can use. Laptops or computers are next in accessibility at home, 87% of respondents have a computer at home they can use and 74% own it themselves. • 76% have access to a gaming console like Playstation, Xbox, Wii or Gameboy at home • And 75% have access to an ipod or tablet. • 27% of gaming console users don’t use it with the internet. • 47% of respondents report access to a smart TV at home. 15
Device use at place of learning: Again, mobile phones owned by the user rule here. 82% of respondents own and use their own smartphone at their school or other place of learning. 59% use their own laptop at their study location, though this is also the most popular institutionsupplied device by far at 39%. Next in popularity is the tablet or iPad at 17% using one provided by their school and 42% bringing their own tablet to use at school. Smart TV’s, gaming consoles (including handheld) and ipods are rarely used at a young person’s place of learning.
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Social Media sites & apps Our reading about social media use among young people internationally revealed some trends, such as declining use of Facebook and exiting to single utility apps and more private messaging tools. To gain a New Zealand perspective on this, we asked our survey respondents about which popular social sites they used and how frequently.
The tools we asked about are: Facebook: known as a social media giant and was predicted to have the most users among respondents, and the most daily users Instagram: Is a smart phone application that allows users to post a photo and add a filter or special effect. Photos can be kept private to an approved audience of followers, or (more commonly) are shared publicly. Users can engage with other users’ photos by searching for topics (or “hashtags”), location, or username. Photos can be commented on and shared to other social networks. Facebook now owns Instagram. We predicted a high useage of Instagram. Twitter is known as a “microblogging” platform, and is primarily text based. Based on our research users tend to be older and more tech-focused or highly engaged in other media. We predicted quite a low usage of Twitter among our target survey audience. Messaging apps: WhatsApp, Viber, oovoo. These smartphone apps are “utility”, focused on chat with people whose contact details the user has. They typically allow video and photo capture and send, as well as heavy text-based chat. These apps allow users to escape carrier charges for text and SMS messaging, but if used away from wifi internet then they do use mobile data. Internationally such apps seem very popular among young people, so we would expect uptake to be quite high for NZ youth also. Snapchat’s point of difference is that it’s content expires. Using this smartphone app a user can send a snap to a contact which the contact can view for a set amount of time - up to ten seconds for an image, or a single-view of a video of up to 30 seconds. Initially it gained a lot of attention as it was perceived to encourage risky behaviour, like the sending of “sexts” or intimate images due to the fact that the content would expire and the recipient would have no evidence of the material. Users and app developers have trumped this, as screenshots can be taken using the device built-in functionality and app developers have created add-on apps that capture all incoming snaps and save them. Snapchat is used to send entertaining daily life updates among friends, and we would expect it to have a decent youth user base in New Zealand encouraged by references in NZ media.
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YouTube is the primary destination for video consumers and producers among connected western culture. Users can view or post video content at large volumes for free, and commenting functionality enables new connections to be made. We would expect YouTube to be popular in New Zealand, more so with improving internet connection speeds and cheaper data plans. Tinder, OKCupid and other dating sites or apps. These services loosely require users to be 18 years or older, but investigation and conversation with users has shown that younger people create fake profiles with older ages in order to participate in these apps sometimes. Even though most of our respondents are below the age of entry for these tools we were interested to see if useage would be notable. Facebook Messenger is much like utility messaging apps mentioned (What’sApp, Viber), though we would expect it to have a higher uptake due to being the property of the giant Facebook. Messenger is a smartphone app that allows users to text chat, send photos and videos to their Facebook contacts for free with an internet connection. Skype is the original standard for video chat. It is primarily used for face-to-face conversation online using webcams, though it does offer text based chat also. We would expect our respondents to at least be aware of this tool, and more probably use it to keep in touch with family than friends. Whisper, YikYak and “anonymous” social apps don’t identify the submitters of their content. Via smartphone users can usually post content to the whole community - text based (YikYak) or with an image (Whisper) and get anonymous responses in return. Content often turns explicit, particularly in the text communications, but first hand use of these apps has shown us that many users also ask anonymous relationship advice or vent frustrations with life, seeking like-minded reassurances that they are not alone in their experience. Some users out themselves briefly to provide their username for another platform to continue getting to know people they encounter on an anonymous app. These apps are quite new, and we wouldn’t expect high useage numbers yet in New Zealand.
In their comments, respondents also told us they use: •
Kik, Line and WeChat: messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber.
•
Tumblr, a social and blogging website where users have their own blog but can interact with other Tumblr users and share/repost content to their own account
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iMessage and FaceTime, Apple device utility apps for text and image messaging, and face to face video chat. They are also internet connection based and so avoid carrier charges for calls or text messages
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Email, hotmail and gmail were mentioned as specific services
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Usage frequency & awareness As predicted, Facebook has the highest user base among our respondents, and 90% of them use it daily. Instagram though has a lower daily useage than expected, and Snapchat actually has more daily users, 56% vs 60% respectively. Non-users offered some interesting information also. A high number had never heard of dating sites or apps like Tinder or OKCupid - 13%, with media reporting often mentioning hookup culture fuelled by online dating we would expect awareness to be higher. Among users who have heard of sites or apps, but never used them, we can see some future opportunity for audience growth particularly regarding messaging apps. 46% of respondents haven’t used a messaging app (other than Facebook Messenger), but have heard of them. Considering these apps are quite new, daily users are at 16%, and 76% use Facebook’s similar service Messenger daily, we believe “aware” non-users are likely to convert to users if their friends start using these apps. The same holds true for anonymous social apps, where we also see 46% of non-users who are aware of the existence of these apps. We wouldn’t expect their daily user base to reach as high as messaging apps however, as the anonymity also spares the user from social obligation to continue engaging. Twitter also has a high number of aware non-users in our survey at 52%, but due to the fact that it has been around for more than 7 years and widely publicised in the media, we wouldn’t expect many of these non-users to convert. They likely have looked at the service and not seen how it would offer any value to them.
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Who are youth “social” with online? We wanted to know who New Zealand youth interact with most on social media on a social basis; friends, family, online only friends, or do they use it to meet new people? Across all the types of social media we mentioned, of social media users: • • • •
52% talk to friends they know in person 18% talk to friends they know only online 20% talk to family 9% use it to meet new people
Youth talk to their friends they know in person on these platforms in this order, these are also the most popular online social services used by our respondents. • • • • • • • • • •
Facebook Facebook Messenger Snapchat Instagram Skype YouTube Messaging apps like What’s App, Viber, ooVoo Twitter Whisper, Yikyak and other anonymous apps Tinder okCupid and other dating sites or apps
Friends they know only online: • • • • • • •
Instagram Facebook YouTube Facebook Messenger Snapchat Twitter Whisper, Yikyak and other anonymous apps
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• Skype • Messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber, ooVoo • Tinder okCupid and other dating sites or apps Family: • • • • • • • • • •
Facebook Facebook Messenger Skype Snapchat Instagram Messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber, ooVoo YouTube Twitter Whisper, Yikyak and other anonymous apps Tinder okCupid and other dating sites or apps
Meeting new people: • • • • • • • • • •
Tinder okCupid and other dating sites or apps Whisper, Yikyak and other anonymous apps Twitter Messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber, ooVoo YouTube Skype Instagram Snapchat Facebook Messenger Facebook
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Social Media & Wellbeing To get our respondents thinking about how social media makes them feel, we asked them if they agreed or disagreed with some statements. The impression of their responses is as follows:
Respondents after considering these statements gave us some interesting feedback in their own words.
Some sentiments that appeared repeatedly: •
Popularity is evident:
“ The popular people make you feel bad when they get heaps of likes on a picture and you don’t get many ” “Instagram ruined my self-esteem, so I deleted it and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made :)” • Some users are very pragmatic in their useage, sticking to this form of communication for organising to meet up with friends and not much else.
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•
Individuals have changed their use over time:
“ When I was younger (teenager 14-20) social media sites like bebo and the introduction of constant texting (free text weekends) meant that I was constantly using it to feel more social and better about myself, strengthen friendships, enhance relationships, when ultimately it became toxic and produced too much drama and anxiety. Now at age 24, I prefer to stay away from interacting with people too ‘deeply’ online or even post facebook statuses due to something I call ‘social media anxiety’. ” • Several respondents indicated that they use social media to help them with their mental health including managing depression and anxiety. It was mentioned that it is easier to express themselves if they feel social anxiety, and that they can seek information and support in addition to their medical or “real world” treatment.
The types of responses to this question made evident that the personalities using social media are what define how it’s used and how individuals feel about it.
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Time Spent Online Only 22% of our respondents said they were limited to a few hours of time spent online.
Most respondents said they can spend as much time as they like online. Limiting factors are wifi access, whether they have other commitments or activities, data on the family internet plan (eg 100GB limit for the family per month). Some said that their parents or caregiver take away their devices at a certain time in the evening, or switch off the wifi in their home at bed time.
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Creating v/s Consuming Our research showed that some caregivers are guiding their children in time spent online creating vs consuming content, and trying to encourage their young people into creating things using technology rather than mostly consuming media. We attempted to ask our survey respondents about this, and the results show that this approach is really not very widespread in New Zealand. A huge majority of respondents almost always have access to the internet and don’t use it only when they are doing something else that requires their full attention. In terms of creating vs. consuming, our respondents simply don’t think about their online behaviour that way. A few responded in their own words that they write long emails, create videos for YouTube, create music or art, but many more used the words “I don’t” when asked how long they spend creating online. It’s likely that this group don’t think of their social media use of creating at all, though they are actually writing and posting images and content to each other frequently throughout the day.
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Making Money Online Sites for transacting online are improving constantly, and as savvy users of online tools young people are well positioned to make additional income by selling items online. In light of the emergence of the “mini merchant”, we explored this idea with our survey. There are different ways users are transacting online, not just through formal methods where a website is developed for that purpose and facilitates payment such as Trade Me or Felt (New Zealand’s answer to international craft sales website, Etsy). These alternatives are basically commandeering any channel to become a sales channel, such as a Facebook group where users connect and talk about what they have got to sell or are interested in buying. The actual exchange of goods or money takes place away from the site. While the majority of respondents never sell or have sold anything online through any channel, 9% of respondents “always” use Trade Me or formal sites to sell things that they own (but haven’t made) online, 36% say they sometimes do this. On informal channels, 5% “always” sell items in informal channels, and 17% say they sometimes do so. 8% of respondents have created and sold something physical on a formal channel, and 6% have created and sold something on an informal channel. Digital assets can also be sold online, like graphics for websites or forums, digital art or music. 7% of respondents said they have done this, 10% said they would do this but haven’t yet. 35% of respondents know someone in their age group who creates and sells physical items online, and 17% know someone in their age group who creates and sells digital things online.
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One respondent gave us a next level example of profiting from digital assets:
“My twin makes a lot of money from selling digital weapons online for gaming. E.g the other day he made $700 from selling a knife that he technically gambled to get. And sold it to someone and got the physical money for it. It was $700 only because the knife he won was blue.” - Female, 14/15 from Auckland
And another respondent had learned about selling physical handmade items online from a friend:
“ My friend used to have her own business where she would make necklaces and she got a decent amount of customers but she said for the amount [of] effort she put into it, it wasn’t overall worth it.”
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Spending Money Online Survey participants feel comfortable buying online, and 73% said they “always” or “sometimes” bought from an online outlet with a formal online payment process. In their own words we were told that young people are aware of security and look for PayPal verification or other clues that a site is credible. One respondent has a clever method of ensuring their money is safe when they transact online:
“I have a debit card or buy Prezzy cards to use online Debit card, linked to ‘now’ account. I keep limited money in that account and transfer as needed through phone banking so if a website steals card details they can’t take [too] much.” 55% of respondents said they don’t or would never use an informal channel to transact online, while only 15% said they hadn’t/wouldn’t transact through formal channels online. 70% feel comfortable buying physical things online, and 67% feel the same about buying digital items online. 90% of respondents would rather see a physical product in person (such as in a store) before they bought it. Commenters told us that they would rather buy many things in person but find better deals and more variety online. In terms of how they pay, 34% of respondents have a debit card or use a Prezzy card to buy items online. When asked if they used their parents credit card to buy online, 61% said yes but many explained in their comments that they paid their parents either in cash or by internet banking for the item first.
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Digital technology and the real world experience Interested in learning how youth use technology when attending an event or concert, we asked whether they would engage in some behaviour. Ranked from most to least likely: 1. Post photos online just for your friends and family (including Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram etc) - 89% 2. Enter a competition related to the event, for example tweet to win a backstage pass - 57% 3. Use a hashtag if you knew of one for the event - 53% 4. Post photos online and tag them/talk about them so more people saw them - 52% 5. Look for the event promoter or performer on social media to find out more - 51% 6. Look up other people’s posts on social media during the event or when you get home 50% 7. Talk about the event on social media publicly (so anyone can see it) during the event - 33% 8. Expect someone running the event to respond to you via social media - 13%
Commenters on this subject remarked that they would likely take photos at the event, and many said they would post content and look up content after the event. A small number of users mentioned posting on Twitter during an event, and mentioning the performers. Several commenters remarked that they would prefer to experience the event rather than worry about using their devices or posting online.
“I actually enjoy it with my eyes, instead of just posting about it, during the event. Then look at photos afterwards online� 29
New and emerging technology Testing our audience’s exposure to, and awareness of, emerging digital technology, we asked them about some new releases.
Of the items we asked about, 19% have tried 3D printing which is unsurprising given the technology has been growing in accessibility, with consumer level 3d Printer released in recent years. More cutting edge technology concepts such as augmented reality are foreign to New Zealand youth, as is the special interest Raspberry Pi computer - a tiny low cost programmable computer. Specific devices like Drones, the Oculus Rift, and Google Glass are not familiar to our audience, but when they do know about these devices they are eager to use them.
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International Observations 31
International Observations Existing research internationally and also for New Zealand specifically is light, in such a transient technological landscape studies are quickly outdated as technologies advance. However, the information that we were able to access showed the following. In regions with high levels of access and use across society • A European Union1 based literature review and survey from 2009 explored the likely uptake of electronic identity (eID) technology by young people in the EU. Though six years old, the report captures attitudes toward digital technology for people born between 1991 and 2003. • Key outtakes relevant to the wider use of digital technology, not just eID, are: • There is a high level of consciousness around security and privacy of data, the risks of giving away information online among young people. Trust of a service is a factor in whether young people will provide their data, and they expect it to be kept secure by the company to whom they supply it. • Known people are more trusted with their data, and youth surveyed had low expectations of legislation and governments to protect their information. Youth prefer to have control of their own information, and have a low awareness of data protection laws. • Youth surveyed in this study confirmed their natural expertise in using and understanding digital tools termed “Web 2.0” - the participatory web where content is created and shared by users rather than consumed from publishers.
1 IPTS Young People and Emerging Digital Services - An Exploratory Survey on Motivations, Perceptions and Acceptance of Risks, 2009. http://ftp.jrc.es/EURdoc/JRC50089.pdf
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• Youth in this group have been getting online several times per day for at least five years. • In terms of identification, of the options available at the time youth indicated the most understanding and familiarity with the concept of biometric identity. • Gender is a factor, with female identified persons being more cautious in giving out their information online - potentially due to lacking familiarity with services or higher perceived risk. • In terms of security, gathering and storing personal information, the report found it best to echo the familiar-to-youth data management procedures of their trusted social networks.
Low access regions where technology is still emerging into society Kenya2 offers a different perspective, where networks and infrastructure are less developed and access to devices not as widespread. A UNICEF funded report conducted by InterMedia in 2013 sought to understand how young people aged 12-17 in Kenya were using digital technologies including social media. They surveyed and spoke with adolescents in four locations in Kenya and sought those who at least had access to the most common digital access device in Kenya, a web enabled mobile phone. • As the availability of low cost, web enabled mobile devices increases, so too does the uptake of usage among adolescents. • Most adolescents have access to a shared phone or their own personal phone with internet access, and this changes the way they seek information, socialise, and entertain themselves • With the mobile phone as the popular device, non-internet related functions are used interchangeably with internet-enabled ones. Such as instant messaging over the internet or texting/sending SMS, these are all simply phone-enabled communications and there is little distinction to users • Usage of digital technology fills needs to explore, inquire, be social and to be exhibitionist, which can lead to unsafe behaviour. Young people expressed no issues with creating multiple online identities under different names and ages to access content for older age groups of speak to older people online. Many made little distinction between their online and offline friends, where online friends are those they have met and engaged with only online. Some youth felt comfortable or had followed through with meeting people in person who they had first encountered online.
2 A (Private) Public Space, Examining the Use and Impact of Digital and Social Media Among Adolescents in Kenya, 2013. http://www.intermedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/A-Private-Public_Voices-of-Youth-Kenya-study.pdf
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• Pornography is part of the young person’s digital life, whether it is sought out or sent to them by others, or encountered by accident. Some share hard drives or DVD’s containing pornographic content with their friends, or set up fake accounts to access content online more readily. • Awareness of online safety is low, with youth believing that repercussions of risky behaviour won’t happen “to them” but “to others”. Young people are open to learning more about conducting themselves safely online but they would prefer to learn from peers or online information than from authority figures. • Parents and caregivers of young internet users in this environment are often removed from the experiences and behaviours of their young charges online. Young people have grown up with greater access and learn from their peers, whereas the older generation have had little or no exposure, and are unaware of the tools, risks, and how their children might be behaving with digital technology. Due to children accessing the internet away from home, via mobile devices or in internet cafe’s, parents are unable to supervise. The divide is greater in poorer urban neighbourhoods or rural areas. • In Kenya, while youth are learning at great speed about digital tools and technology, society is not keeping pace. The support and understanding of the impact of the internet and technology needs to be in place as the youth mature. • Young people also need to be shown how to use these tools for education, empowerment, and opportunities and those examples need to be set and encouragement and support made to enable productive use of digital technology.
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Emerging Trends 35
Emerging trends and future predictions Internationally: • Instagram has over 200 million monthly active users, and more than 20 billion photos shared1 • Favour of anonymous apps such as Whisper, Snapchat and YikYak is rising among the young as opposed to Facebook2 • 25% of Generation Z* abandoned Facebook in 20143 • 72% of Generation Z wants to start their own business4 • 52% of Generation Z use YouTube or social media for typical research assignments5
In New Zealand: Our survey results show Instagram has a lower penetration than we might have expected. Based off the international movements, New Zealanders are likely to trend in a similar direction - away from the giant social platforms to more niche or utility options, but considering the current numbers we’ve observed, this will likely take years. The observation that Generation Z use YouTube and social media for research rings true in our findings, however the definition of “research” is open to interpretation. Some respondents mentioned using social media to ask their classmates for help on particular topics, this they might consider “research”.
*Generation Z refers to the cohort of people born after the Millennial Generation, which is widely agreed to be those born in the mid or late 1990s, or from the mid 2000s to the present day.
1 2 3 4 5
The Next Web, March 2014: http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2014/03/26/instagram-passes-200-million-monthly-active-users/ Entrepreneur, November 2014: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238998 Global Messaging, December 2014: https://www.globalmessaging.co.uk/index.php/beyond-facebook-market-new-generation/ Deloitte Millenial Survey 2015: http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html Mashable, August 2014: http://mashable.com/2014/08/20/generation-z-marketing/
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The Digital Dimension With the proliferation of internet connected devices, when each person has a smartphone in their pocket, real world experiences are set for an explosion of digital enhancements. Augmented reality is allowing users to “see” another layer on the real world, useful for testing out furniture within the home1 before purchase, trying on makeup2 or clothing, or seeing information labels, video or old pictures applied to historical or notable places within a city as it’s explored physically. Our survey respondents showed a low awareness of augmented reality, and a low interest in using their devices in a real world context. However, with developers and media outlets taking advantage of this technology users will be encouraged to engage - they just might not know the term “augmented reality” for what they are interacting with.
1 2
Freedom Furniture Virtual Showroom App: http://stoppress.co.nz/didge/freedom-furniture-explores-augmented-reality-new-app L’Oreal Makeup Genius app: http://www.lorealparis.co.nz/make-up-genius.aspx
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The Internet of Things Networks within the home are becoming more powerful, and access to and speed of connections to the internet are improving, which leads to technology reaching out to devices that haven’t previously been internet enabled. The Smart TV is a start, where the humble television set can now access much more than local broadcast. On-demand content and the ability to browse and interact with websites and games via just the TV set is the first step. Internet enabled thermostats1 and heat pumps2 are already in homes, allowing residents to set their house to be toasty and warm before they arrive. Light bulbs3 can be commanded via the internet, and Amazon have customizable “dash” buttons4 that can automatically re-order a pre-set product with one press. As these conveniences become normal within the home, shopping habits will change for older users, and the younger will enjoy connected toys. Kids will learn from digitally smart toys5, many of these toys interact with devices they already have in the home. Old favourites such as Lego-like building bricks6 are getting a tech overhaul, encouraging kids not just to be users of new technology, but imaginative creators too. It’s likely that parents and caregivers will still make these tech purchases, and in New Zealand considering our geographical isolation and still-patchy internet access, it will be some years before these items become every-day for young people.
1 2 3 4 5 6
Nest Thermostat https://nest.com/thermostat/meet-nest-thermostat/ Mitsubishi Electric Wi-fi enabled heat pump http://www.mitsubishi-electric.co.nz/wifi/ Hue http://www.philips.co.nz/c-p/8718291547778/hue-personal-wireless-lighting Amazon Dash button https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-button Wonder Workshop toy robots https://www.makewonder.com/ Atoms connected building toy https://gigaom.com/2013/11/13/bono-backs-connected-toy-company-making-the-next-gen-lego/
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Shifting revenue models for games and entertainment Games for kids on digital devices more commonly come as app downloads than physical purchases, but this has caused some consternation for parents. As kids hold the devices, often linked to their parent’s credit card, controlling charges has in some cases gotten out of control. Apple paid out $32 million USD in refunds1 for such purchases made via their app store. Games which are free to download but require in-app purchases to keep playing or unlock more content are demanding multiple small payments digitally, which is turning some paying customers off. The old model of buying the right to play a game outright (license) is being revisited by some, while subscription models for kids’ sites like Neopets.com have been in place for some time. The industry is ready for new revenue models which provide more perceived “bang for buck” and eliminate the risky credit card link. Real world purchases of toys or other merchandise can be linked to digital play, with codes and proximity sensors being used to validate that a transaction has already been made, and unlocking new content and digital experiences.
1 Apple settles with FTC over in-app purchases, offering $32 million in refunds, The Verge, January 2014 http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/15/5311364/apple-settles-with-ftc-over-in-app-purchases-tim-cook-says
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Social media fragments, again The social web evolved from interactive sites like forums, blogs, and create-your-own-place sites like Geocities and Live Journal, which gave rise to the next generation of profile sites like Bebo, MySpace and Facebook.
Since Facebook has taken the lion’s’ share of the social network pie in terms of audience, it’s also added more features and third party apps, becoming a “swiss army knife” of social media. The complex architecture of photo albums, groups, events, personal details, friends, family and work colleagues plus advertising, connecting with businesses and brands is all quite exhaustive - meaning bigger revenue dollars for Facebook but turning off users1 who like simple tools. And so enter the single utility apps, focused on doing one small function very well. Instagram, We Heart It, Whisper, YikYak, SnapChat, Vine, and Twitter all offer something that appeals to fewer - and for fickle youth2, that can mean less chance of running into their parents, family, or indeed anyone they know. Our New Zealand observations show young people here to be slower on the uptake of new “single utility” type apps, with low user numbers. Young people here aren’t sacrificing use of Facebook in favour of other tools, they are discovering new tools to use in addition to Facebook if they address a need.
1 It is official: Even Facebook admits that teens are tiring of the social network as they turn to newer ‘cooler’ apps such as Snapchat, The Daily Mail, March 2013 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287593/Facebook-admits-teens-tiring-social-network-turn-newer-cooler-apps-Snapchat.html 2 Brace Yourself for the News: Teenagers Are Fickle Consumers, Huffington Post, October 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-drew/brace-yourself-for-the-news_b_4176313.html
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The Tablet Takeover Smartphones proliferate, as their costs have dropped their accessibility has soared and especially in low income brackets they are the most popular device. Tablets are next, with prices dropping to below the cost of a university textbook, and with Bring Your Own Device type schemes in schools, more youth are owning their own tablet. Over the smaller phone interface, tablets are better suited to creation, and so are likely to encourage more young people to create and share their own content online rather than be simple consumers. In our New Zealand findings, the tablet still comes third to the computer in accessibility to young people though we expect this to change quite quickly due to tablets being a low cost tool that is effective for most things young people need to do in day to day life and their study. Of all the trends we forecast, tablet saturation will happen the fastest.
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Mini Merchants Creative kids are also cashing in online, their experience using online tools gives them the confidence to try out merchant sites like Etsy or crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter (these do require a parent or person 18 years or older to hold the account). Away from formal buy and sell sites with transactional features, kids are selling physical as well as digital items online. “Buy, sell, trade� groups are easy to find on Facebook for any location1, and allow anyone to post an image, description and price of what they are selling, so others can contact them and make arrangements to transact. Where youth are participating in sites that allow customisation of profiles via graphics such as profile pictures or forum signatures, there is also money to be made. Creatives can sell their artwork informally online by publicising their own website or social media page to connect with buyers. Selling creations online is likely to grow, with new opportunities such as designs for items to be created via 3D printers and more youth becoming tech-savvy enough to use the web to connect with buyers. Kiwi’s responding to our survey showed low propensity to sell online, particularly selling their own creations. However there are other ways to profit from technology, such as developing new ways of using technology to solve problems - which New Zealanders are proven to be adept at. Creative thinking is to be encouraged, and the more young people are exposed to the latest technology, the more it will occur to them to apply it to their everyday lives.
1
South Auckland Gaming Buy Sell Trade Group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/408892595954827/
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Executive Summary 43
Executive Summary While our report covers many different facets of how young people are engaging with technology, the key insights are as follows: Technology is a very important part of all young people’s lives, and is used daily. Being ‘connected’ is a natural state for 12-24 year olds in New Zealand.
More and more young people have access to or own multiple devices including smart phones, tablets and laptops.
As the availability of low cost, web enabled mobile devices increases, so too does the uptake of usage among young people. If a service is freely or cheaply available, young people are more likely to use it.
Young people are very savvy with their technology use, and are comfortable navigating systems and sourcing free media without any concerns for potential consequences. They are much more likely to try new things and experiment with technology than older generations. Technology is becoming more and more integrated into education. • 82% of respondents own and use their own smartphone at their school or other place of learning. • 59% use their own laptop at their study location, though this is also the most popular institution-supplied device by far at 39%. • Next in popularity is the tablet or iPad at 17% using one provided by their school, 42% bring their own tablet to use at school. There is a growing range of social media platforms, and while Facebook is currently the most dominant, young people are looking towards new, creative ways to connect, communicate and express themselves. • This is in part due to the growth in an older audience on Facebook, and young people’s desire to have a space of their own. • Social media platforms that have increased use by young people include Instagram, SnapChat.
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• Favour of anonymous apps such as Whisper, Snapchat and YikYak is also rising
The way that young people interact with Social Media does impact their wellbeing, with many attaching their self-worth to the number of comments and likes they receive for the things they share online. • There is also evidence that young people compare themselves to others online, and try to live up to unrealistic expectations of ‘who they should be’ • However, some young people did indicate that they use social media to help them with their mental health including managing depression and anxiety, finding it easier to express themselves online.
Young people don’t seem to think of their social media use of creating at all, though they are actually creating content; writing, taking photos, making short videos, editing images and sharing throughout the day.
In general, young people feel very comfortable buying online, and look for security features when making online purchases. • Equally young people feel comfortable selling things online, and look beyond traditional sales sites such as TradeMe, and are now selling within any social media environment. However in New Zealand young people are more likely to engage in buying rather than selling. • Sales and purchases include both tangible products that need to be couriered and digital products including things that can be used within games.
It seems that young people like to share real world experiences in their digital spaces, with the most popular form of sharing being photos from events and key moments.
Overall, technology is constantly evolving, and so to is the way that young people use it. Largely though, our findings showed that the use of technology is integrated into young people’s daily lives, and the application of technology will continue to increase and be adopted readily by this age-cohort.
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Thank you Prepared with care by Eddy Royal Jade Tang-Taylor Anthea Whittle Curative NZ Ltd <www.curative.co.nz> for Michelle White Ruth Woodward Ministry of Youth Development