Nielson Study Shows How Teens Interact with Media

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It is amazing to look at the image above and realize that reflects the top TV shows the year that seniors graduating high school this month were born! Many of the shows – certainly Seinfeld, Rosanne, Frasier and Home Improvement – are classics easily found in syndication now. The X-Files also launched that year, bringing with it nearly a decade of conspiracies and unrealized sexual tension between the main characters. Jurassic Park Stomped through theaters, and ‘A Whole New World’ from Aladdin ruled the airwaves.

1993 was also the year that the Mosaic web browser launched, and the internet as a popular medium was really starting to take off as the “WWW Revolution truly begins“.

Nielson took a look at how these 18-year olds interact with media. Here is the summary version:

Are the Heaviest Mobile Video Viewers: On average, mobile subscribers ages 12-17 watched 7 hours 13 minutes of mobile video a month in Q4 2010, compared to 4 hours 20 minutes for the general population.
Are More Receptive to Mobile Advertising than their Elders: More than half (58%) surveyed in September 2010 said they “always” or “sometimes” look at mobile ads.
Out-Text All Other Age Groups: In Q1 2011, teens 13-17 sent an average of 3,364 mobile texts per month, more than doubling the rate of the next most active texting demo, 18-24 year olds (1,640 texts per month).
Talk Less on the Phone: Besides seniors 65-plus, teens talk the least on their phones, talking an average of 515 minutes per month in Q1 2011 versus more than 750 minutes among 18-24 year olds.
Grew Up in the Age of Social Media—and It Shows: While they make up just 7.4 percent of those using social networks, 78.7 percent of 12-17 year olds visited social networks or blogs.
Watch Less TV than the General Population: The average American watched 34 hours 39 minutes of TV per week in Q4 2010, a year-over-year increase of two minutes. Teens age 12-17 watch the least amount of TV on average (23 hours 41 minutes per week).
Spend Less Time on their Computers: American 18 year olds averaged 39 hours, 50 minutes online from their home computers, of which 5 hours, 26 minutes was spent streaming online video.

The text-vs-talk issue is certainly something I see in my house, with my wife and I making sure to remind our kids on a regular basis that there is a time for a quick text and a time to actually call someone – and depending on the age of the other person you need to adapt.

I am also not surprised by the advertising item – I personally bristle with how ad-heavy EVERY video or other items that are already advertising something have become, but my kids take it in stride.

Similarly, TV and computer usage have been supplanted by phones, iPad and iPod usage as well as a variety of gaming devices. The era of being tied to a desk for typical computer tasks and to a couch to watch video seems to be rapidly dying out.

What are you seeing in your house? Does it go along with these findings? How about your own habits?
Source: Nielson Blog

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!