OpenMobile: Teens Online Doing Homework, Text Messaging and Watching TV

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Teens Online Doing Homework, Text Messaging and Watching TV

I know none of this is a surprise, but read on...
(From AdAge.com)

Survey: A Third of Teens Spend Three Hours Each Day on the Web

By Gavin O'Malley

Published: June 12, 2006

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- As any parent of teenagers will attest, the internet is occupying an ever greater portion of young peoples' time. Indeed, nearly four in 10 teens -- 37.4% -- are spending at least three hours online daily outside of school settings, according to a Burst Media survey of more than 1,800 connected teens between the ages of 13 and 17. Just one in five -- 19.6% -- say they're spending less than an hour online outside of school.

For teens, the web is a more meaningful source for movie and TV news than word of mouth or local newspapers.

Photo Credit: AP

Today's kids are multitaskers, however, so internet time is simultaneously homework time, or TV time. About half -- 48.9% -- at least claim to be working on homework assignments while online, while 33.8% say TV or a movie usually competes for their attention.

Additionally, a combined 40% say they're also text messaging or talking with friends on their mobile phones while online.

"Corralling these distractions to minimize their disruption is a significant challenge for marketers," said Chuck Moran, manager of market research for Burst Media.

Net gaining on TV
How do brands overcome this challenge? "Use the internet to create a central content point for teens on a variety of subjects and interests," Mr. Moran said. "By doing so, marketers can then develop integrated-marketing campaigns with advertising creative and programs referencing a central platform and working in tandem to get teens' attention."

Notably, the internet is now seen by teens as the top source of information on music artists and bands. And, while teenagers are still more likely to cite TV as their main source for movie and TV-show updates -- 29% in the survey did so -- the web isn't far behind, at 25.5%. That makes the web a more meaningful source for movie and TV news than word of mouth (15.7%) or local newspapers (10.3%).

The Burst findings mirror broader research surfacing today. About 20% of all Web usage occurs while viewing TV or immediately before or after, according to a study just released by the Online Publishers Association and conducted by Ball State University. More than 60% of all web users spend two hours a day online, the OPA study found.

Posted at 10:58 PM in On Demand Media | Permalink