21 and Web 2.0 -1st in Series

Matthew Robson, a 15 yr old intern recently released a report on Web 2.0 and teens. Caroline McCarthy agreed with some of his statements and found that only 22% of 18-24 yr olds use Twitter. So I decided to go and do a bit of research, not on what I think, but in a series of interviews with people ofdifferent age. Some of my predictions

use of Web 2.0 is abundant in 20 somethings
they are not familiar with the term
social media is an integrated part of their lives
they use Facebook, Youtube and Twitter regularly (and rarely blogs or wikis)
they have integrated much of their social media onto their mobile device
(contrary to several reports) is that twitter is used predominantly by older (25+) users and those with a technology background or interest
from a qualitative analysis perspective I would also predict that users use some type of aggregator, Tweetdeck being my choice.

Kirsty was my first volunteer, a 21 yr old Psychology graduate currently working 4 different jobs whilst maintaining an active social life. Surprisingly (from my perspective) she 1st used the internet at school “Googling” for information at the age of 13.

It was dial up initially, advancing to yahoo.com when a friend mentioned it, progressing to broadband these days, but not to mobile (“that’s for texting, time and talking”). Whilst not familiar with the term Web 2.0 Kirsty is an avid user of Facebook

using it 2-3 times per week
primarily for putting up photos and organising functions
95% of friends use it
a surprise use was organising presents for friends 21sts
does not use at work (office job) – and would have a lower opinion of a company which allowed employees to use FB

It is interesting to note, that while comfortable with technology and it’s use through Uni, Kirsty did not use Wikipedia as a source for assignments. References were usually provided for research papers and she has rarely used Youtube, DIGG, Delicious, Twitter or any other forms of social media.

She still reads a paper daily (front to back on weekends), does not browse via mobile, accesses music, in the car mostly, via radio in the morning at home, music or radio when cleaning, and some times music at night, but not on mobile (“used to listen to radio sometimes when I used to walk to uni”) and buys a magazine probably once a month, but doesn’t read online (“sometimes just the news page after I sign out of hotmail”).

A few of my conclusions are

whilst 20 somethings may not be familiar with the term Web 2.0, a high percentage use some form of this technology
generalisations regarding use of Web 2.0 across different regions and demographics can be difficult to make
qualitative analysis of Web 2.0 trends can offer significant differences to quantitative analysis
just because someone is educated or has a degree, it does not automatically mean that they use every available form of Web 2.0
mobile uptake may be being limited by cost and ease of use
much of the use of Youtube is via secondary resources such as Facebook

So, Kirsty was a very interesting interviewee, with quiet a few unpredictable uses of technology, both old and new. Next in the series 40 somethings and Web 2.0