engaging young people online

- whaddya reckon?

presentation by Stephen Blyth15 September 2007

statistics, damn statistics

0%

18%

36%

54%

72%

90%

Computer Internet Mobile phone(2)

86%

65%71%

Technology

Household Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Survey (2006)

Statistics New Zealand

Big picture - who in New Zealand is online.

In the last year 65% households with Internet access. Numbers high and rising but still a significant group missing out.

statistics, damn statistics

Household Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Survey (2006)

Statistics New Zealand

Individual internet use in last 12 months

15–24 502,000 85.5%

A larger proportion of young people online than any other age group. Statistics NZ figures show 85.5% used Internet in last twelve months. Some

Remaining 14.5% not users for a number of reasons: dislike using computers, do not have Internet access at home, school, workplace, and do not use public terminals.

statistics, damn statistics

When was the last time you used the Internet? Base: New Zealand Children Aged 6-17 who use the Internet & have access at home

Daily use is the norm for half of kids overall

50

30

12

52

67

22

8

13

43

34

14

7

2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

In last day In last week in last month More than 1 mth ago Don't know

% o

f Ne

w Z

ea

lan

d c

hild

ren

with

inte

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t acc

ess

at h

om

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all 6 - 17 Broadband Homes Dial-up Homes

78% of children had used

the internet in the past week

Nielsen/ NetRatings “New Zealand eGeneration Study 2005: Kids and Teens Online”

Of people survey, over three quarters online at least every week.

Note differences in use between dial-up and broadband users.... if have broadband at home over 25% more likely to be online daily.

Figures likely to have increased since 2005.

Do you use the Internet for any of the following reasons?

Base: New Zealand Children Aged 6-17 who use the Internet (n=501)

Children’s online activities

5%

5%

6%

8%

9%

11%

11%

15%

15%

15%

17%

23%

24%

24%

28%

29%

33%

40%

42%

51%

63%

64%

69%

70%

80%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Digital collectables

Sports info / results

Leisure / fun and browsing

Blogging - own or reading others

Download pictures

Other

Online radio

Chat rooms

Buying products/services

Computer game cheats

File sharing (music / video)

Software

Movies / video

Information - Various subjects

Magazine websites eg Total Girl, Dolly

TV / movie websites

Multiplayer gaming (playing against other people on the Internet)

Entering competitions

Instant messaging (messenger)

Music

Other things for school

Playing games against the computer(eg single player)

Games

Email

Homework

% of New Zealand children aged 6 - 17 who use internet

A more ‘active’ engagement with the

internet, as compared with the

functional use of adults – banking,

news, directories…

‘Immersive’ advertising opportunities

(see Neopets)

So what are people actually doing online...

Statistics on NZ internet use by young people difficult to obtain at the moment. Waiting for Statistics NZ to release more data from their household ICT survey last year.

In figures here from Nielsen Netratings 2005 focus interaction revolves around chat or instant messaging, but social networking doe snot figure. Blogging and creating content do not figure highly.

More statisticsDespite prevalence of internet it is not ranked near the top of the list in terms of favourite pastimes for 8-18 year olds (tv tops)

NZs in 8-14 age group, 39% visited user generated website, 16% uploaded clips

NZ kids ranked higher than their British or Australian counterparts creating content on social network sites (eg MySpace, Bebo)

Circuits of Cool/ Digital Playground technology and lifestyle survey (2007)

Quantitative and qualitative survey methodology used to talk with 18,000 “tech embracing” 14-24 year olds in 16 countries

“New Zealand youth were actually found to be amongst the most sociable of those countries surveyed, preferring to hang out with their friends over spending time online.”

CREATING & CONNECTING//Research and Guidelines on Online Social — and Educational — Networking

NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION

Research conducted in USA, comprising:- online survey with 1,277 nine to 17 year olds- online survey with 1,039 parents- telephone interviews with 250 school district leaders.

Useful to look at trends in USA, where Internet use higher, though cannot necessarily directly link back to NZ situtation.

language, posting inappropriatepictures, sharing personal infor-mation with strangers or pretend-ing to be someone they are not.

Nonconformists are signifi-cantly heavier users of social net-working sites than other students,participating in every single typeof social networking activity sur-veyed (28 in all) significantlymore frequently than other stu-dents both at home and at school— which likely means that theybreak school rules to do so. Forexample, 50 percent of noncon-formists are producers and 38percent are editors of online con-tent, compared to just 21 percentand 16 percent, respectively, ofother students.

These students are significantlymore likely to be heavy users ofboth new media (online, videogames, handhelds) and old media(TV, videos/DVDs, radio). Butthey are significantly more likelyto prefer new media to old. Theyalso are disproportionately likelyto learn about new sites and fea-tures online, through the “chatvine” or other online mechanisms,while other students are more

Creating & Connecting page 3

Popular Social Networking ActivitiesPercentage of online tweens and teens who say they do these activities at least weekly

Source: Grunwald Associates LLC

Posting messages

Downloading music

Downloading videos

Uploading music

Updating personal Web sites or online profiles

Posting photos

Blogging

Creating and sharing virtual objects

Creating new characters

Participating in collaborative projects

Sending suggestions or ideas to Web sites

Submitting articles to Web sites

Creating polls, quizzes or surveys

41%32%30%29%25%24%17%16%14%10%10%

9%9%

Of student respondents, 96% with online access have used social networking technologies, including chat, text messaging, blogging, and visiting online communities.

Some very active users: 21% say they post comments daily; 41% say they post messages at least one a week. 30% of students have their own blogs, with 17% adding material at least once a week.

More statistics

10

know how to do it, again suggesting a literacy gap. This was an especially common response among the 9-11 year olds (69%), and interestingly, the youngest group was also the least likely to say that making a webpage does not interest them (28%, compared with 40-50% of the teens). These youngest children, then, have the biggest gap between motivation and skill, suggesting an ‘unmet need’ worthy of support.

Visiting civic/ political websites

The majority of sites developed both for young people and for the wider population are commercially produced as part of a business strategy of e-commerce, branding or cross-media promotion targeting the youth market. By contrast, in the UKCGO survey, we wanted to know how often young people visit sites designed to appeal to their public or civic interests, potentially linking them into wider societal and democratic processes (see Figure 5).

16

!"When it comes to actively seeking out information about political, environmental, human rights or other participatory issues, over half (54%) of 12-19 year olds who go online at least once a week have visited at least one such website. Charities appear marginally more popular, but the main finding is that each civic/political area appears to generate a similar, and modest, level of interest from teenagers.

!"Girls are particularly more likely to visit charity sites (31%, compared with 22% of boys) and human/gay/children’s rights sites (24%, compared with 13% of boys). Older teens (16-19) are more likely to visit charity sites (35%, compared with 20% of 12-15 year olds) and human rights sites (23%, compared with 13% of 12-15 year olds). Sites for improving conditions at school are most visited by 16-17 year olds, and Government sites are more visited by young voters (18-19) than by 16-17 year olds (18%) or 12-15 year olds (11%).

When we add together the different types of civic sites (see Figure 6), we find that:

!"Girls and young middle class teenagers tend to visit a broader range of civic sites. The breadth of civic sites visited also increases steadily with age.

!"On average, however, only one of these kinds of sites (out of a possible six) is visited by each individual, suggesting that overall, visiting civic websites is low on young people’s priorities. Further, only 31% of girls and 23% of boys have visited two or more kinds of sites.

!" If these levels of participation are to be increased, further efforts – in design, in visibility, in communicating relevance, and in educational/ social support – will be needed.

Figure 5: Have you ever visited websites about…?

2722 21

1814

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Charity Environment Government Human rights Improving

conditions at

school/ work

Any of these

%

Base: 12-19 year olds who use the internet at least once a week (N=975.) Multiple responses allowed.

A research report from the UK Children Go Online project (October 2004)

Active participation or just more information? Young people’s take up of opportunities to act and interact on the internet A research report from the UK Children Go Online project (www.children-go-online.net) October 2004

54% of 12-19 year olds who go online at least once at week sought out information about political, environmental, human rights or other participatory issues

On average, however, only one of these kinds of sites (out of a possible six) is visited by each individual, suggesting that overall, visiting civic websites is low on young people’s priorities. Further, only 31% of girls and 23% of boys have visited two or more kinds of sites.

When they visit civic/political websites, what do young people do? • The majority of 12-19 year olds who had visited such a site said that they just ‘checked it out’ (64%). Some had sent an email (18%), voted for something or signed a petition (12%) or joined a chat room (5%) on the site. It seems that for all but a minority, political and civic sites are more a source of information than an opportunity to become engaged.17• This low level of engagement was confirmed when we asked email, IM and chat users aged 12-19 (N=828) if they discuss such political or civic issues peer-to-peer on the internet. More than half (56%) say they never talk about these issues with anyone by email, IM or chat. However, 14% have done so once or twice, 24% sometimes and 4% often.

Reference Group set by Children’s Commissioner echoed findings: Happy to talk about politics, or answer a questionnaire But wouldn’t purposely look for a site out of interest, even if it was likely to make better rules, or laws

Telling it like it is, pt 1From the Children’s Commissioners Reference Group:

Don’t just try and invite people to the existing Couch, you need a dedicated youth corner

Avoid having parents being asked for permission – it’s a turn-off

Rewards or incentives to particpate are good

A competition could work, but this needs careful thought

Bebo is currently most popular place to hang out online

In early August 2007 I attended a Children’s Commissioners Reference Group meeting to ask for feedback on the idea of a website or section to talk with young people. This the feedback I received.

Telling it like it is, pt 1From the Children’s Commissioners Reference Group:

A clear purpose for collecting info, and seeing feedback

Place relevant adverts on other popular websites

Involve young people in design

Telling it like it is, pt 2From the Tech Exec:

Not voting yet, so interaction with government seen in very narrow terms

Want opportunities to tell government stuff, but don’t fit boxes of government departments

Prefer elegant, fast, simple websites: everything needs to be instant

Needs to be interactive, visual

Feeling that young people are ignored

At a meeting the SSC online participation community of practice, the Wellington based Tech Exec made a presentation. The tech exec are senior high school students from several different schools, who support younger students to use IT, run occasional IT related events, and challenge teachers to get with it.

Telling it like it is, pt 2From the Tech Exec:

Apathy not is necessarily the case, but feeling that dominant voices or the few actually get heard

Involve young people in design

Prof Coleman’s view“A key message for government is that engaging young people in online debates and consultation is counter-productive unless there is a serious and authentic commitment to listen and learn – in short, to engage with them.”

“The key to making online civic and political content meaningful is for it to be open to the widest possible interpretation, re-interpretation and re-mixing.”

Remixing Citizenship: democracy and young peoples use of the Internet (May 2005)

In the “Remixing Citizenship: democracy and young peoples use of the Internet (May 2005)” report Professor Stephen Coleman reports on research he’d conducted into young peoples use of internet from citizenship point of view. This entailed 100 13-18 year olds visiting selected websites and giving feedback, plus 8 face to face semi-structured discussions with same age group in schools.

Amongst other things, he grapples with defining what is ‘cool’.

Some issues to considerSafety: privacy, digital footprints, sensitive content (help and support)

Anonymity: is information collected reliable?

Building a critical mass

Design – ‘cool’ remixing, mashups ... involve young people (ala Tim McCreanor, Whariki)

Whose voices? Because not everyone is online

At the forefront of any effort to set up an online forum for expression of young people’s views on families, need to consider these issues.

Some issues to considerAge groups – up to 12 or so, not confident creators of content ..

Liz Butterfield says from 12-13 years old young people confident creators, capable of making decisions online

Social networking websites membership only open to those 13 years and older, but extends into 20s and beyond

Relevance and impact: what does the Commission want to learn from young people?

Coming up... I suggest two options to consider:1. join an existing social networking space2. interactive school based projects

option 1: join an existing social networking space

Go to where young people already congregate

Piggy back on existing uses, rather than focusing on policy, politics , civic-mindedness

Create an engagement/ participation space on Myspace, Bebo or another popular social networking website

Invite creative contributions from young people, generate discussion, occasional poll, competitions

Age group: 13 years plus .. Myspace is only for people aged 16 years and over

Bebo 13 years plus Faketown 13 years plus

Coming are examples of reputable organisations using different online social networking sites.

option 1: prosLarge existing audience,

eg Bebo 800,000 NZ members aged between 13 and 30; Aug 2007 stats: 5th most visited website in NZ

eg Myspace Feb 2007 300,000 members; Aug 2007 stats: 18th most visited website in NZ

Safety measures available

Creative, contributory, co-production

Few NZ organisations going online

option 1: consMistrusted, banned by schools

Lack of control over content, who links, etc

Boundary pushing content by advertisers (as well as potential for links to objectionable)

Difficulty for users finding specific channels

Reputation for unsafe behaviour (eg privacy, stalking)

Limited control over age of participants

Fast changing: site popularity rises and falls very rapidly

option 2: interactive school based projectsFacilitate creative digital activity with children at selected school around discussing, recording, researching and sharing about their family life

Use blogs, podcasts, websites, presentations, videos or other digital content. Pictures, drawings, song, creative content.

Directly or indirectly learn about children’s and/or young people’s experience of family life

Share results publicly and promote this

Some examples of these types of things happening:eg Living Heritageeg The Outlook for Someday video competition

Living heritage projects feature school classes reaching out into local communities to learn about and document histories, stories and personalities.

www.livingheritage.org.nz

Young people up to the age of 20 were invited to submit a short film on some aspect of sustainability.

option 2: prosHighly controlled process

Scalable: start small and build up

Low risk initial launch

High level of participation by children/ young people involved

Benefit of participation regardless of downstream policy impacts

Could work with a wide range of age groups

option 2: consDependent on finding schools willing to participate

Limited awareness around the country beyond people directly involved

Significant planning upfront, including link to curriculum

Quality determined by motivation of facilitator, students, teachers

Who I talked with... Tim McCreanor, Whariki/ SHORE, Massey University

Liz Butterfield, Hectors World

John Fenaughty, Netsafe

Ahsley Blair, StudyIT

Marianne Doczi, DoL

Raewyn Baldwin, WCC

Lyn Campbell (as former youth advocate)

I draw no conclusions.

What I read....“NZ youth take part in MTV’s Circuits of Cool”, C4 Music Television media release 24 July 2007 (download: 12 September 2007)

“e-Me Stories & Scenarios: the ideal electronic galaxy of the student”, Lars Albinsson , Olove Forsgren and Mikael Lind (2006)

“Children’s Media Use and Responses: a reivew of the literature”, NZ Broadcasting Standards Authority (July 2007)

“Creating & Connecting: research and guidelines on online social - and educational - networking”, National School Boards Association (USA) (July 2007)

“New Zealand eGeneration Study 2005: Kids and Teens Online”, Jennifer Reddington (2005)

“Teens, Privacy & Online Social Networks: How teens manage their online identities and personal information in the age of MySpace”, Amanda Lenhart and Mary Madden, Pew/ Internet (April 2007)

“Remixing Citizenship: democracy and young people’s use of the Internet”, Professor Stephen Coleman (with Chris Rowe) (May 2005)

“Active participation or just more information? Young people’s take up of opportunities to act and interact on the internet”, Sonia Livingstone, Magdalena Bober and Ellen Helsper, UK Children Go Online project (October 2004)

“Get it together”, Russell Brown, NZ Listener (no. 3455, August 2006)

“Why youth (heart) social network sites: the role of networked publics in teenage social life”, danah boyd, in press MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Learning, Identity Volume