NZ youth take part in MTV's Circuits Of Cool

Tuesday July 24, 2007
For Immediate Release

New Zealand Youth Take Part In MTV’s Circuits Of Cool And Nickelodeon’s Digital Playground, The Largest Global New Media Study Ever Conducted

New Zealand youth are the highest users of mobile phones in comparison to their global counterparts, while New Zealand children, ranking highest at 80%, would not respond to a stranger who contacts them on a social network site.

In New Zealand the average young person 14-24 connected to digital technology has 88 (global average 94) phone numbers in their mobile, 77 (global average 78) people on a buddy list and 75 (global average 86) people in their social networking community. Yet despite their technological immersion, the digi-kids are not geeks – 77% of 8-14 year-old Kiwi kids (59% globally) still prefer their TV to their PC’s and only 16% of New Zealand youth 14-24, (20% globally), admitting to being ‘interested’ in technology. They are, however, expert multi-taskers and able to filter different channels of information.

These are just some of the findings from the largest-ever global study undertaken by MTV and Nickelodeon, into how kids and young people interact with digital technology. The Circuits of Cool/Digital Playground technology and lifestyle study challenges traditional assumptions about their relationships with digital technology, and examines the impact of culture, age and gender on technology use.

Chris Keely, General Manager of MTV and Nickelodeon New Zealand, said: “Digital communications – from IM, SMS, social networking to email – have all revolutionised how young people communicate with their peers. Digital technology is impacting every aspect of content creation across Nickelodeon and MTV channels worldwide. Our groundbreaking report highlights our commitment to engaging with kids and young people globally. It will help us build stronger and more innovative alliances across our localised New Zealand channels.”

The survey used both qualitative and quantitative methodology to talk to 18,000 “tech embracing” kids (8-14) in 12 countries and young people (14-24) in 16 countries: New Zealand, Australia, UK, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, China, India and Japan.

The survey found that New Zealand kids and youth aligned with global findings, including the following:
• Technology has enabled young people to have more and closer friendships thanks to constant connectivity.
• Friends influence each other as much as marketers do. Friends are as important as brands.
• Kids and young people don’t love the technology itself – they just love how it enables them to communicate all the time, express themselves and be entertained.
• Digital communications such as IM, email, social networking sites and mobile/SMS are complementary to, not competitive with, TV. TV is part of young peoples’ digital conversation.
• Despite the remarkable advances in communication technology, kid and youth culture looks surprisingly familiar, with almost all young people using technology to enhance rather than replace face-to-face interaction.

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National differences

The study found that whilst many young people have access to similar digital technologies, they use them in very different ways. “The way each technology is adopted and adapted throughout the world depends as much on local cultural and social factors as on the technology itself,” said Keely. “Anyone wanting to understand kids and youth has to understand how and why they differ.”

In China, with lower mobile usage amongst kids, a less evolved print media market and a family life of no siblings, parents and multiple grandparents; the internet provides a rare opportunity for only - and lonely - children to reach out and communicate using social networks, blogs and instant messaging. The average Chinese child has 13 online friends they have never met versus New Zealand and Australian kids at 4 and Japanese kids at just one.

The survey found that Japan’s reputation as a land in love with technology is different from the reality. Young Japanese people live in small homes with limited privacy, generally don’t have their own PC until they go to college and socialise away from home a lot. Unlike what is true of New Zealand kids and other kids across the world, for Japanese kids aged 8-14, the phenomenon of social networking, user generated content and accessing music for free is far from the truth. Only 15% of Japanese kids, versus 39% of NZ kids visit User Generated Sites (UGS) regularly and only 4% (versus 16% of NZ kids) have uploaded clips.

In fact, New Zealand kids 8-14 are the third highest of all countries surveyed to have uploaded material to UGS sites, ranking higher than British or Australian kids. Similarly, New Zealand kids rank higher than British or Australian kids in creating content on social network sites.

Climate impacts on digital technology too. In countries with a strong outdoor culture, such as New Zealand, Australia, Italy and Brazil, young people 14-24 use mobiles for arranging to meet, flirting and taking pictures of their friends.

Northern Europeans take a more practical approach to technology, but are perhaps the most immersed in it of all. Out of all nationalities surveyed, young Danes are most likely to say they can’t live without mobiles (80%, versus New Zealand youth at 31%) and young Dutch are most likely to say they can’t live without e-mail (85%, versus New Zealand youth at 33%).

Despite the plethora of new communicating tools, a majority in almost every nation expressed a preference to meet in person. Only Chinese youth actually expressed a majority preference for texting over face-to-face meetings. 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. By contrast, Australia was ranked among the least sociable country, with Germans being the most solitary of all.

More and closer friendships

Circuits of Cool and/Digital Playground found that technology’s greatest impact has been on the depth and range of friends that 14-24s have. From having an average of 11 friends between the ages of 8-14, young people speedily acquire circles of dozens of friends in their teenage years. The average 14-24 New Zealand youth matches the global average of 53 online and face-to-face friends - and communicates with them often. 46% (42% globally) of those asked said the first thing they did in the morning and the last thing they did at night was to check their mobiles. “There is a critical difference in mobile phone usage between kids and teenagers. For 8-14s, the mobile phone is a toy that you can talk to parents and close friends on. From 14 onwards the mobile phone quickly becomes a means of communication and self-expression,” said Chris Keely, General Manager, MTV and Nickelodeon New Zealand.

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Many of the 14-24 year olds surveyed said that different forms of communication enabled them to talk about more intimate subjects than they would have otherwise done. 46% of New Zealand youth said that they could talk about more things on IM than face-to-face, 44% said that they could get to know people better, whilst around four out of every ten said that they found it easier to make new friends and felt less lonely as a result of using the Internet. “Friends play an expanded role in the lives of young people. When they come home from school, college or work, socialising does not stop as it used to, it just goes online. Kids and young people are now connected constantly.” said Keely.

Safety and parental control

Safety and parental oversight ranks high on the uses technology serves with the younger demographics. In Mexico, parents purchase mobiles for their children as an essential safety item, while in New Zealand 76% (globally 68%) of 8-14 year old respondents feel safer having their mobile phones with them outside the house and 74% (globally 71%) say their parents use the phone to find out where they are. Though parents’ peace of mind comes with a price for kids, globally 26% are scared of being mugged for their mobile phones, with kids in the UK, China, Mexico and Brazil being the most nervous. New Zealand kids are much less concerned at 14%.

Whilst the view in many countries is that online meeting places and communications tools pose a risk to kids in terms of the dangers they may come across; in reality, the majority of kids 8-14 see platforms like social networking sites and IM as a free place to share experiences and be constantly connected with their friends - not people they don’t know. 65% of Kiwi kids versus 53% globally say they stick with people they know on social networking sites and 80% of Kiwi kids, versus 59% globally would not respond to a stranger if they were contacted.

This is in contrast to New Zealand youth 14-24 where only 29% of males and 30% of females say they stick with people they know on social networking sites and 93% of females and 82% of males would respond if a complete stranger contacted them.

With social networking becoming a frequent online activity for over half of youth, 35% globally are claiming they now use these sites because all their friends are on them. This helps to explain the phenomenal rise of social networking – their popularity is based on collective usage. In NZ, one of the strongest reasons for using social networks is to keep youths from feeling left out. “Parents should take comfort from these findings. Kids prefer to connect with their friendship groups and, at most, extend out to people with similar interests. The perception amongst young people is that it’s their parents who are more likely to use digital networks for online dating or meeting strangers!” said Keely.

Young people are not geeks

Circuits of Cool and Digital Playground found that the “technology” itself is irrelevant to kids and young people. While kids use mobiles and the internet constantly, the survey found that globally only 20% (16% in NZ) of 14-24s actually loved technology, and the ones who do are in developing nations such as Brazil, India and China. The people least interested in technology were the Danes and the Dutch – despite saying they couldn’t live without it.

“Young people don’t see “tech” as a separate entity – it’s an organic part of their lives,” said Keely. “Talking to them about the role of technology in their lifestyle would be like talking to kids in the 1980s about the role the park swing played in their social lives – it’s invisible. They are completely focussed on the functionality and use of devices. They don’t enjoy texting, or emailing for its own sake – what they enjoy is communicating with their friends all the time.”

Apart from a few key new media terms, most young people avoided industry jargon. Only 9% of New Zealand youth used the term “multi-platform,” and only 8% admitted to using the phrase “social networking.” The terms they use most frequently are those relating to accessing content for free, like “download”, “burn” and “Bluetooth”. They also use brand names rather than category terms, with MSN, Google, and MySpace amongst the most popular.
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Young people also multi-task to a greater extent than adults. They still generally only do one thing at a time, but are able to have more stimuli coming at them and select the one that grabs them at that moment. “They will have the TV on whilst being online whilst phoning a friend – but they will dip in and out of each. Kids are very good at ‘filtering’ the mass of information coming at them,” said Keely.

Kids and teenagers the same as ever – only different

Circuits of Cool and Digital Playground found that what kids and teens do has not significantly changed in 15 years. For kids, they may be immersed in technology from the day they were born, but the things New Zealand kids enjoy doing most are watching TV (87% / 85% globally), hanging out with friends (81% / 68% globally), listening to music (70% / 78% globally) and playing video games (76% / 67% globally).

As they grow into teens so the ranking of their favourite pastimes change. At the top of the list of New Zealand 14-24s favourite pastimes is listening to music (77% / 70% globally), followed by hanging out with friends (72% / 65% globally). Next came watching DVDs (71% / 60% globally), watching TV (70% / 65% globally), relaxing (70% / 60% globally), going to cinema (62% / 59% globally), eating (60%/ 53% globally), spending time with girl/boyfriend (58% / 55% globally and hanging out at home (58%/ 49% globally).

“The survey revealed a dynamic between TV and the Internet, especially for 14-24s. Young people watch TV for stress relief - 51% of NZ young people and 46% of NZ kids 8-14 said they watched most of their TV lying down. The Internet, on the other hand, is cognitive and active, especially if kids are using it for homework or social situations.” said Keely.

Kids still love good advertising. While the ‘best ad they’ve seen recently’ is still overwhelmingly on TV, there is the opportunity for marketers to extend their digital advertising across the other technologies kids are engaged with, including IM and social networking sites, especially since 53% of NZ kids and 48% of NZ young people IM each other about ‘what is on TV right now.’ “Far from being a background medium, TV is the only medium they use whilst not multitasking at all. Linear TV is the medium for introducing people to new things they weren’t searching for in the first place,” said Keely.

Business Impact

Advertisers and content companies wishing to evolve and engage with kids and youth audiences need to understand the changes taking place in how kids and young people lead their lives. “Traditional youth marketing considered opinion formers and influencers to be a small elite, but these days the elite has become much larger,” said Chris Keely, General Manager, MTV and Nickelodeon New Zealand.

“In an age when young people influence each other as much as marketers do, friends are becoming as important as brands. Kids have much more power to influence each other. You need to be interesting enough for kids and young people to bother to talk about you. You need to be remarkable. If not, you won’t be respected – that’s what some brands get wrong,” said Keely.

A significant number of those asked said the website links (88% globally) they viewed and the viral video content they downloaded (55% globally) came from friends’ recommendations. Audiences also wanted more control of what they watched and when they wanted it. Young people expect content to be on all platforms; mobile, computer and TV. They want it to be searchable and increasingly expect it to be supplied on demand.

A successful example of MTVN producing global shows is Meet or Delete. The reality series, which airs on MTV channels around the world, allows students to seek friends and connect with each other entirely on the basis of their hard drive’s contents. Another example of how this report is influencing programming is in MTVN’s partnership with Sony Ericsson to highlight new talent for the Europe Music Awards through online and mobile voting.
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“Localised versions of MTV and Nickelodeon have been in New Zealand almost a year now and part of our business philosophy is to develop content offerings that are relevant to New Zealand kids and youth. Having New Zealanders take part in a global survey of this magnitude will help mould the channels digital strategy to ensure it resonates with the local market.” said Keely.

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Editor’s note

Nickelodeon’s Digital Playground studied the lives of 8-14 year olds and what it’s like to grow up in a digital world across 12 countries (UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, China and India). The qualitative and quantitative phases surveyed 7,000 kids and parents who qualified as regular users of media.

MTV’s Circuits of Cool used both qualitative and quantitative methodology to examines how technology has changed youth culture and talks to 18,000 “tech embracing” young people (14- in 16 countries: UK, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand). Tech embracing is defined as having easy access to the internet, mobile phones, and at least 2 other electronic devices.

About MTV Networks
International includes the premier multimedia entertainment brands MTV: Music Television, VH1, Nickelodeon, TMF (The Music Factory), VIVA, Paramount Comedy and Game One seen in 420 million households in 164 countries and 18 languages via 104 locally programmed and operated TV channels and 90 Web sites. The company's diverse holdings also include interests in television syndication, digital media, publishing, home video, radio, recorded music, licensing & merchandising and two feature film divisions, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. MTV Networks is a unit of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

About MTV New Zealand
MTV NZ is a 24-hour music and entertainment channel targeting 15 -29 year olds on SKY Digital channel 60 and SKY Mobile TV on Vodafone 3G. Visit www.mtv.co.nz for more details.

About Nickelodeon New Zealand
Nickelodeon, now in its 27th year globally and 1st year locally in New Zealand, is the number one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. Nickelodeon New Zealand airs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is seen in over 700 000 households on SKY channel 41. On air Nickelodeon features a wide array of original and acquired programming from animation to comedy, adventure, and live action programs for kids aged 0 to 14 years. Nickelodeon also owns and operates one of the few dedicated interactive kids' web sites in New Zealand www.nicknz.co.nz

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