One of the most comprehensive school level survey conducted by TCS finds that Indian children between age of 12 and 18 are quickly adopting new modes of networking using social platforms like Facebook and Twitter and tools like instant messaging (IM) and chat. The survey was conducted in 12 Indian cities with over 12,300 students participating in the survey.
The survey also shows that these trends among students are not limited to metros alone, but are similar in upcoming Tier II towns.
Interesting findings of the survey:
– 75% of the students said that main reason they access Internet was to do “Research for School” followed by chatting (68%) and listening to music (50%).
– Over 84% of the students go online from home compared to just 58% (in 2009).
– Use of Cyber Café’s for online access has reduced dramatically to 20% as compared to 46% in 2009.
– 88% of students have presence on a Social platform like Facebook. Twitter is used by atleast 1/3rd of surveyed students.
– Sites like Linkedin are increasing in popularity especially in business-centric cities like Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
– 8 out of 10 high school students own mobile phones and more than 40% use mobile phones to access the internet (compared to just 12% in 2009)
– An emerging trend is the use of tablets with almost 14% using these new devices.
– 50% of students used SMS the most to communicate while 45% used IM and 38% used Facebook or Twitter – much higher than students who said they used email (34%) for the same purpose.
– Though use of emails (55%) in mini-metros is higher than metros (34%).
– Television is falling off the radar, with it being the least favorite gadget among students. With 28% votes, Mobile phone was the most popular gadget.
– 45% of students in the metros own a gaming console as compared to 16% in mini metros.
– IT remains the top career preference amongst youngsters, irrespective of geography, with Engineering and Medicine coming next.
– Media & Entertainment are emerging as a urban favorites.
– Interestingly career in Retail sector is the least favorite among high school students.
Most of the findings are not all that surprising – however, there is clearly a paradigm shift in the way previous generations socialized, communicated & worked. The Generation Y is more online, always connected and much better acquainted with technology than before!
[source]