Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2480976.ece
BANGALORE, September 24, 2011 Keep the car, dad. Can I have the Net? Deepa Kurup Cisco survey shows youngsters ‘can't live without the Internet' If you think that a pair of wheels, or two, can entice those ‘connected' youngsters from their world of virtual ‘walls', 140-character-long chirpy conversations and information ‘on the move', think again. A recent survey finds that two-thirds of students would prefer to have Internet access, rather than a car. More, they feel the Internet is as “close in importance” to life as is water, food, air and shelter. An incredibly substantial chunk, no less than 49 per cent, of students and young professionals testified to this in a survey commissioned by global networking firm Cisco. So, young respondents — 50 per cent students and a larger number of young professionals (61 per cent) — said “they could not live without the Internet”. Findings of the Connected World Technology Report surveyed 1,441 students and 1,412 young working professionals (aged 21 to 29), in 14 countries including India, China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, the U.S., the U.K., France, Mexico and Russia. The report, divided into two sections, ‘The Internet' and ‘Social Media', quizzed respondents on a variety of parameters to gauge how, why and what about the social media juggernaut kept them hooked. Not surprisingly, the Internet generation also appeared to be somewhat clear about its priorities. When asked, “what on a typical day is most important to you”, no less than 45 per cent said checking Facebook was important, placing this above spending non-virtual time with friends (at a still-heartening 31 per cent) and going on a date or listening to music. Significantly, large numbers in emerging markets such as India, Brazil, Spain and China, testified to ‘Facebooking' as a preferred pass-time. Addicted? And a distraction it is, for young students across geographies (around 43 per cent average) confessed to checking social media updates at least three to five times an hour. Employees too conceded that they checked their Facebook pages at least a few times a day, and every fourth person confessing that their page is “always up”. A pleasant and curious deviation in this trend is the sample surveyed in Japan, where over 48 per cent students and youngsters said the Internet did not distract them as much during work hours, or during study time. Globally, for youth, both students and young professionals, the Internet is their primary information and news source. More specifically, they turn to their computers or laptops, preferring it over television and print media, or even smartphones, to access information. Micro-blogging While Facebook is the winner hands-down, micro-blogging appears to be far less popular. When asked, 45 per cent respondents said they didn't use Twitter (or other micro-blogs), and even those who did use it, did so scarcely. Compare this to Facebook, where a majority used it extensively, almost obsessively. Comments to : [email protected] Copyright © 2011, The Hindu Register for AccessIndia convention 2011(November 12-13) at: http://www.accessindia.org.in/harish/convention.htm Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
