Youth and the digital world

The “always-on” digital tendencies of the youth in the Generation Z and millennial groups consistently manage to attract attention and criticism from older generations. In our recent white paper, “A Youth Lost in Translation”, which is based on research done by HDI Youth Marketeers, we explore the views of 5,400 urban and peri-urban young people and uncover both the positive and the negative consequences of the digital behaviour of SA’s youth.

While parents may worry that the youth’s obsession with being digitally connected makes them antisocial and disconnected from the real world, Generation Z believes the opposite: that their connectedness actually enables them to have close relationships with people around the globe and keeps them well-informed about current affairs.

One of the significant findings in our report is that the average age of cellphone ownership has dropped from 11-13 years in 2008 to six-nine years in 2015. Of the children surveyed (eight to 13 years old), 62.7% own a cellphone. These children said they spend most of their time online downloading and playing games. Of the teens surveyed, 82.3% own a cellphone. They spend most time instant messaging. More than 90% of the young adults in the survey have a cellphone, and they spend far more time on social media than on research related to their studies or work.

The youth feel that instant messaging is better than face-to-face interaction and phone conversations. Mobile has overtaken fixed Internet access, with 66.8% of survey respondents using mostly their phones to get access to the Internet. They are data-driven consumers, with most (62.1%) preferring data bundles to airtime.

However, the constant flow of information is not without its anxieties for parents, as there is little they can do to prevent their youngsters from seeing disturbing content or subject matter that they may not be mature enough to process adequately.

Ray de Villiers, a TomorrowTodayGlobal consultant on the future world of work and an expert on millennials and Generation Z, explains that “Generation Z are still children, and so the cognitive processing of all this information is still fundamentally a childish process. They are very naive kids. If you had thoughts of working out how to prevent them seeing disturbing stuff, forget it, it’s too late. Rather be a processing resource. Help them to understand what they are finding.”

The youth’s obsessive relationship with social media contributes to their sense of anxiety, as they feel they have to manage their online presence and image constantly.

“Twitter never sleeps, Tumblr never sleeps, and nor does Facebook. So, you have to make sure you are always up [to date]. If you don’t have at least 60,000 tweets on your account, you are not relevant,” said one 18-year-old male respondent.

Social media is also a unique breeding ground for peer pressure, with some admitting that teenagers might feel pressure to bully others online so that they are seen as being “cool”.

While it contributes to social complexities, having a digitally inclined youth also means that we have a multitasking, smart, savvy, socially and globally aware generation developing –  which will certainly make for a brighter, albeit back-lit, future.

The big take-out: The average age of cellphone ownership is dropping, and many youngsters have an almost obsessive relationship with social media.