By Michele Cassano and Domenico Mugnaini)
Young people are not at
all un interested or distant from the world of information,
recognising its importance and relevance, according to a study
entitled "Young people and Information," carried out by Gfk
Eurisko as part of the "Daily newspaper in the classroom"
initiative that has been under way for the past 15 years
involving 45,000 teachers and over 2 million students.
Compared to the recent past, a revolution in access to news
is under way, starting with the decline of television, which has
given up ground to the Internet, the study underlines.
Social networks are the main novelty, according to the
results of the research disclosed at the conference entitled
"Growing between the lines," held at Borgo La Bagnaia, with 91%
of youngsters using social networks at least once a week
including for information searches (used by 87% once a week).
Social networks are the "medium" with as many as 65% using
them every day.
As many as 94% of young people use Internet sites for
information purposes with 88% using them every week compared
with 78% a year ago and 47% of students seeking information
every day.
Television and television news still play a big role but
are in gradual decline among young people with 40% of students
watching tv news every day compared with 54% two years ago.
Young people are reading fewer printed publications, both
weeklies and monthlies, though readership of daily newspapers is
constant thanks to the "Daily in the Classroom" scheme, meaning
that 79% of students read dailies.
Subjects most of interest are music (52% say they are "very
interested"), followed by local news in the area where they live
(48%), and new technology and cinema (32%).
Traditionally male subjects such as football and videogames
are in decline.
Use of TV is down among teenagers from 14 to 18 years (only
17% watch it for more than three hours a day compared to 31% in
2006), while 92% of students connect to Internet every day at
least once, 84% more than once a day, compared to 64% just two
years ago. As many as 67% of connections are made on mobile
devices.
Smartphone availability has reached saturation point with
every young person interviewed owning one and more than two
thirds having access to a tablet.
As many as 95% of students say their profiles are on a
social network with 89% displaying them on Facebook, 86% on
YouTube, 59% on Instagram, 52% on Messenger, 50% on Google+, 24%
on Skype and just 19% on Twitter.
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