Don Tapscott’s New Paradigm has just released survey results based on a study of 12 countries and over 7,600 youth between the ages of 16 – 29 which shows that “77% of today’s online youth would sooner live without television than live without the Internet.”
China has the most devoted young Internet users, with 87% choosing the Internet compared to 13% favoring television. In the United States the figures were 77% for the Internet and 23% for TV.
Other key findings:
- When asked to choose whether they want to be smarter or better looking, 69% of the world’s N-Geners choose being smarter
- When evaluating a potential employer, 88% of N-Geners in China say a company’s prestige is important. This figure drops to 83% in India,72% in Russia, and 51% in the US.
- 56% of the world’s online youth would prefer to make the world a better place than to improve their local community.
- 73% of the N-Gen globally say that if a company makes untrue promises in its advertising, they will tell their friends not to buy its products.
- 52% say that teens and young adults are portrayed too negatively in today’s media.
Don further commented on the results by saying, “Rich multi-media sites such as LiveEarth.org and Al Gore’s AllianceForClimateProtection.org show how the Net Generation can employ digital tools to make a difference. While high-profile media events like the Live Earth concerts help raise awareness, the global warming battle will be won in the trenches of the Internet.”
While this may be true I think he’s forgetting the “cool factor” that plays into what attracts into youth (people) the Internet and applications that are being built, just look at Facebook’s dominance, not to mention all of the Facebook applications that are being built which allow for users to customize their pages and increase the level of interaction amongst their friend. Too bad they didn’t release where Canada fit in the results.
Hey Dave – what survey is this (what is it called), and do you have a URL for it? I would like to read more of it.
Cheers!