ISSUES
: The Internet of Things
Chapter 1: Digital issues
6
Techie teens shaping communications
A ‘millennium generation’ of 14- and 15-year-olds are the most technology-savvy
in the UK, according to new Ofcom research, which shows that after our teens our
digital confidence begins a long decline.
T
eens born at the turn of the
millennium are unlikely to
have known ‘dial-up’ Internet
and are the first generation to
benefit from broadband and digital
communications while growing up.
The research – part of Ofcom’s
11th
Communications
Market
Report
– measures confidence
and knowledge of communications
technology
to
calculate
an
individual’s ‘Digital Quotient’ score,
or ‘DQ’, with the average UK adult
scoring 100.
The study, among nearly 2,000
adults and 800 children, finds that
six year olds claim to have the same
understanding of communications
technology as 45-year-olds. Also,
more than 60% of people aged 55
and over have a below average ‘DQ’
score.
It shows that we hit our peak
confidence and understanding
of digital communications and
technology when we are in our mid-
teens; this drops gradually up to our
late 50s and then falls rapidly from
60 and beyond.
The study helps support Ofcom’s
duty to research the markets it
regulates and better understand
people’s technology literacy.
As a result of growing up in the
digital age, 12- to 15-year-olds are
developing fundamentally different
communication habits than older
generations, even compared to the
advanced 16-24 age group.
Children aged 12–15 are turning
away from talking on the telephone.
Just 3% of their communications
time is spent making voice calls,
while the vast majority (94%) is text
based – such as instant messaging
and social networking.
By contrast, older generations
still find it good to talk: 20% of
UK adults’ communications time
is spent on the phone on average.
While adults also embrace digital
text-based communications, the
traditional email is most popular
(used for 33% of their time spent
communicating) compared to just
2% among 12–15s.
We’re communicating more
than sleeping
It’s not only younger teens that
are making the most of digital
communications
technology.
Ofcom’s research shows
that the communications
habits of adults of all
ages are shifting as they
embrace newer services
and take advantage
of portable connected
devices.
The average UK adult
now
spends
more
time using media or
communications
(8
hours 41 minutes) than
they do sleeping (8
hours 21 minutes – the
UK average).
But
because
we’re
squeezing more into
our day by multi-tasking
on different devices,
total use of media and
communications averaged over 11
hours every day in 2014. This is an
increase of more than two hours
since Ofcom last conducted similar
research in 2010.
Since then, we’re even better
connected
through
superfast
broadband and 4G mobile, and
communicating on the move.
Among the adult population, it’s the
16–24s who spend the most time
on media and communications.
They’re cramming over 14 hours of
media and communications activity
into 9 hours 8 minutes each day by
multi-tasking, using different media
and devices at the same time.
Tied to our tablets and
smartphones
Where
computer
use
was
traditionally dependent on desktop
computers, tablet and smartphone
devices are starting to dominate
how we work and play. Over four in
ten households (44%) now have a
tablet – up from a quarter (24%) a
year ago.
Their ease of use and portability
appeal
to
people
across
generations. More than a quarter
(28%) of those over 55 now own a
tablet and many use it as their main
computing device.
Young adults are glued to their
smartphones for 3 hours 36 minutes
each day, nearly three times the 1 hour
22 minute average across all adults.
Smartphone take-up has also
continued to increase rapidly
over the past year, up to six in ten
adults (61%), compared to half
(51%) a year earlier. The growth in
smartphone use in particular has
contributed to people spending an
extra two hours per day on media
and communications since 2010.
We’re holding on to our
books, CDs and DVDs
Despite the growth in digital media
and devices, people are holding on
