Addicted, multitasking, distracted = what are screenagers?

Study 1.   Time Inc. Study Reveals That "Digital Natives" Switch Between Devices and Platforms Every Two Minutes, Use Media to Regulate Their Mood

The findings include:

  • Digital Natives switch their attention between media platforms (i.e. TVs, magazines, tablets, smartphones or channels within platforms) 27 times per hour, about every other minute.
  • Because Digital Natives spend more time using multiple media platforms simultaneously, their emotional engagement with content is constrained. They experience fewer highs and lows of emotional response and as a result, Digital Natives more frequently use media to regulate their mood - as soon as they grow tired or bored, they turn their attention to something new.
  • At home, Digital Natives take their devices from room to room with them (65% vs. 41% for Digital Immigrants) - rarely more than an arm's length away from their smartphones - making switching platforms even easier.
  • More than half (54%) of Digital Natives say "I prefer texting people rather than talking to them" compared with 28% of Digital immigrants - a significant indicator of how marketers and content creators need to communicate with them.
  • One major implication of these findings is that Digital Immigrants are intuitively linear - they want to see a beginning, middle, and end to stories. For Natives, stories still need a beginning, middle and end, but they will accept it in any order. Digital Natives are subconsciously switching between platforms and can pick up different pieces of a story from different mediums in any order.
  • "This study strongly suggests a transformation in the time spent, patterns of visual attention and emotional consequences of modern media consumption that is rewiring the brains of a generation of Americans like never before," said Dr. Carl Marci, CEO and Chief Scientist, Innerscope Research. "Storytellers and marketers in this digital age will continue to face an increasingly complex environment with a higher bar for engaging an audience of consumers."

Study 2:  Screenagers pathologically addicted or preoccupied?

A study appears to show that one in 10 Singapore school children are addicted to gaming and that is affecting their mental health.

Study 3: Going 24 Hours Without Media

This is the World Unplugged project and asked 1,000 students in 10 countries on five continents to go 24 hours without media. There are 15 key learning’s listed the top four are…

o       Students’ ‘addiction’ to media may not be clinically diagnosed, but the cravings sure seem real – as does the anxiety and the depression.

o       A clear majority in every country admitted outright failure of their efforts to go unplugged.

o       Students reported that media – especially their mobile phones – have literally become an extension of themselves. Going without media, therefore, made it seem like they had lost part of themselves.

o       Students around the world reported that being tethered to digital technology 24/7 is not just a habit, it is essential to the way they construct and manage their friendships and social lives.

Study 4: EU Kids Online

The study aims to enhance knowledge of the experiences and practices of European children and parents

regarding risky and safer use of the internet and new online technologies, in order to inform the promotion of a safer

online environment for children.

Infographic source : http://www.cashgenerator.co.uk/are-you-addicted-to-your-mobile-phone.aspx


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