· Poll shows a third of 14- to 21-year-olds now have their own online content
· Fast-changing world of the internet poses challenge to old media
The extent of the personal publishing revolution has been revealed by a Guardian/ICM poll showing that a third of all young people online have launched their own blog or website.
Millions of young people who have grown up with the internet and mobile phones are no longer content with the one-way traffic of traditional media and are publishing and aggregating their own content, according to the exclusive survey of those aged between 14 and 21.
A generation has grown up using the internet as its primary means of communication, thanks to an early grasp of online communities and messaging services as well as simple technology allowing web users to launch a personal weblog, or blog, without any specialist technical knowledge. On average, people between 14 and 21 spend almost eight hours a week online, but it is far from a solitary activity. There are signs of a significant generation gap, and rather than using the internet as their parents do - as an information source, to shop or to read newspapers online - most young people are using it to communicate with one another.
About half of that time is spent chatting to friends in online communities or using messaging services, while another hour is spent emailing. The internet may be a window into their personal realm, but it is not a window on the world for young people: only one in 10 say they use it to keep up with news and current affairs.
This trend towards online communication has already manifested itself among music fans, with enthusiastic new communities forming around the latest bands often before they have even released a single or been heard on the radio. According to the survey, those aged between 14 and 21 download an average of 34 tracks a month from the internet and buy an average of two CDs. Of those with internet access at home, almost eight in 10 have a broadband connection. The explosion in cheaper high-speed internet access, which allows quicker access to music and video files and is typically charged at a flat monthly rate, has led to an upsurge in the time web users spend online.
The media regulator Ofcom said this year that more than 8m households are now connected to broadband. According to the poll, six in 10 young people have internet access at home, with a quarter of those having their own computer in their bedroom. Many more have access at school, college or university. But among those with a web connection at home, 31% said that they had launched their own personal site or blog. Those aged 16 to 17 have taken most avidly to personal online publishing, with a female bias.
Some will have started personal sites with rudimentary personal information or centred around music or sport, while others have become mini publishing magnates before leaving school. Earlier this year, the tracking site Technorati revealed that a new blog was created every second.
The results also lay bare the bewildering pace of change in media consumption among young people and outline the challenge faced by traditional publishers and broadcasters to remain relevant.
Rupert Murdoch, who recently spent £332.85m on the youth networking site MySpace.com issued a "change or die" warning to an audience of US editors earlier this year. Admitting that the media industry had been "remarkably, unaccountably complacent", he described the shift in attitudes as "a revolution in the way young people are accessing news".
"They don't want to rely on the morning paper for their up-to-date information. They don't want to rely on a God-like figure from above to tell them what's important. And to carry the religion analogy a bit further, they certainly don't want news presented as gospel," he said.
In an attempt to reach new and young audiences, advertising is rapidly migrating online. Jupiter Research has forecast that the online advertising market will reach $18.9bn (£11bn) by 2010, compared with $9.3bn at the end of 2004, at the expense of traditional media. But newspaper publishers and news broadcasters will take some comfort from the Guardian/ICM poll's findings. Six in 10 said they "like to keep up with the news", rising to more than seven in 10 among 20 and 21-year-olds. Contrary to the prevailing wisdom that young people are turning to the internet for news, television and newspapers remain by far the most popular means of accessing information.
Only one in 10 said they used the internet to read the news, with most preferring to use it as a means of expression and communication. More than half said they read a newspaper at least once a week, rising to seven in 10 by the age of 21. Their preference, presumably often influenced by their parents' choice of paper, was for the Sun, followed by the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail. The survey showed 96% of those questioned owned a mobile phone, and two-thirds had a games console.
They spend an average of £27 a month on their mobile phones, downloading three ringtones during that time, and spend an average of five hours a week playing on their games console.
ICM interviewed a tightly controlled quota sample of 580 people aged 14-21 on September 16 and 17. Interviews were conducted face to face in 36 randomly selected constituencies countrywide. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council.
Owen Gibson, media correspondent
Friday October 7, 2005
Guardian
· Fast-changing world of the internet poses challenge to old media
The extent of the personal publishing revolution has been revealed by a Guardian/ICM poll showing that a third of all young people online have launched their own blog or website.
Millions of young people who have grown up with the internet and mobile phones are no longer content with the one-way traffic of traditional media and are publishing and aggregating their own content, according to the exclusive survey of those aged between 14 and 21.
A generation has grown up using the internet as its primary means of communication, thanks to an early grasp of online communities and messaging services as well as simple technology allowing web users to launch a personal weblog, or blog, without any specialist technical knowledge. On average, people between 14 and 21 spend almost eight hours a week online, but it is far from a solitary activity. There are signs of a significant generation gap, and rather than using the internet as their parents do - as an information source, to shop or to read newspapers online - most young people are using it to communicate with one another.
About half of that time is spent chatting to friends in online communities or using messaging services, while another hour is spent emailing. The internet may be a window into their personal realm, but it is not a window on the world for young people: only one in 10 say they use it to keep up with news and current affairs.
This trend towards online communication has already manifested itself among music fans, with enthusiastic new communities forming around the latest bands often before they have even released a single or been heard on the radio. According to the survey, those aged between 14 and 21 download an average of 34 tracks a month from the internet and buy an average of two CDs. Of those with internet access at home, almost eight in 10 have a broadband connection. The explosion in cheaper high-speed internet access, which allows quicker access to music and video files and is typically charged at a flat monthly rate, has led to an upsurge in the time web users spend online.
The media regulator Ofcom said this year that more than 8m households are now connected to broadband. According to the poll, six in 10 young people have internet access at home, with a quarter of those having their own computer in their bedroom. Many more have access at school, college or university. But among those with a web connection at home, 31% said that they had launched their own personal site or blog. Those aged 16 to 17 have taken most avidly to personal online publishing, with a female bias.
Some will have started personal sites with rudimentary personal information or centred around music or sport, while others have become mini publishing magnates before leaving school. Earlier this year, the tracking site Technorati revealed that a new blog was created every second.
The results also lay bare the bewildering pace of change in media consumption among young people and outline the challenge faced by traditional publishers and broadcasters to remain relevant.
Rupert Murdoch, who recently spent £332.85m on the youth networking site MySpace.com issued a "change or die" warning to an audience of US editors earlier this year. Admitting that the media industry had been "remarkably, unaccountably complacent", he described the shift in attitudes as "a revolution in the way young people are accessing news".
"They don't want to rely on the morning paper for their up-to-date information. They don't want to rely on a God-like figure from above to tell them what's important. And to carry the religion analogy a bit further, they certainly don't want news presented as gospel," he said.
In an attempt to reach new and young audiences, advertising is rapidly migrating online. Jupiter Research has forecast that the online advertising market will reach $18.9bn (£11bn) by 2010, compared with $9.3bn at the end of 2004, at the expense of traditional media. But newspaper publishers and news broadcasters will take some comfort from the Guardian/ICM poll's findings. Six in 10 said they "like to keep up with the news", rising to more than seven in 10 among 20 and 21-year-olds. Contrary to the prevailing wisdom that young people are turning to the internet for news, television and newspapers remain by far the most popular means of accessing information.
Only one in 10 said they used the internet to read the news, with most preferring to use it as a means of expression and communication. More than half said they read a newspaper at least once a week, rising to seven in 10 by the age of 21. Their preference, presumably often influenced by their parents' choice of paper, was for the Sun, followed by the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail. The survey showed 96% of those questioned owned a mobile phone, and two-thirds had a games console.
They spend an average of £27 a month on their mobile phones, downloading three ringtones during that time, and spend an average of five hours a week playing on their games console.
ICM interviewed a tightly controlled quota sample of 580 people aged 14-21 on September 16 and 17. Interviews were conducted face to face in 36 randomly selected constituencies countrywide. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council.
Owen Gibson, media correspondent
Friday October 7, 2005
Guardian
