Teen Culture Technology Study

[Ben E Lou]

I wasn't really surprised at the results of this study, but I found it an interesting culture commentary, confirming some things that I'd suspected...

All the above statements about U.S. teens are true according to a report released in July 2005 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Their survey of U.S. teens found that teens are leading the way to a fully wired and mobile nation. Nine out 10 teens (87 percent) are Internet users. That's 21 million teens ages 12 to 17, up from 73 percent five years ago. By contrast 66 percent of adults use the Internet, up from 56% in 2000. Thirteen percent of U.S. teens (about 3 million kids) do not use the Internet. Among white teens, 87 percent go online, compared with 89 percent of Hispanic youth and 77 percent of African-American teens. Forty-five percent of teens have cell phones and 33 percent are texting. E-mail is a fixture in teens' lives, but instant messaging is preferred. Teens who participated in focus groups for this study said that they view e-mail as something you use to talk to "old people," institutions or to send complex instructions to large groups. View the survey report.

I haven't viewed the survey report yet, but based on my experience with teens, my best guess is that e-mail is something used to talk with "old people" because it is considered to be too slow for their tastes. IM's and text messages arrive immediately (and many of them have their IM's forwarded to their mobile phones). Culture--specifically how people interact with one another--is going to change quite a bit when the text message generation moves into the work force en masse.

[Coffee Warlord]

Lordy lordy. I still remember the first email I ever sent, back in 94 or 95 when I got on the 'net. Sent it to one of the writers at PC Gamer, just cheering I got online and asking him about fun places to check out on this newfangled internet thing.

And got a reply the next day. Try getting that to happen nowadays.

Now it's for talking to old people. God help me.

[jeff061]

Both workplaces I've been has used IM as the main choice of communication, it's just easier to get things done. Email is for situations that require more formality.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Now it's for talking to old people. God help me.

In the minds of most teens, "old people"=anyone >30ish.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by jeff061

Both workplaces I've been has used IM as the main choice of communication, it's just easier to get things done. Email is for situations that require more formality.

If you're in the workplace, how is IM faster?

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

In the minds of most teens, "old people"=anyone >30ish.

I know it. Don't remind me, I'm closing in on that particular landmark.

[jeff061]

Compared to what, email? You can see who is available and open up a live chat session, you can open up a conference call as well. It's just better.

As far as talking in person, it's just a matter of double clicking and typing, no need to leave your desk. And unlike a phone call you are not interupting or tying them down. In my current position I'm a consultant, with people I interact with spread across the globe, so it's even more helpful.

Unless you need to send out some sort of policy change, or are in a "get it in writing to cover your ass" situation, I don't really see any reason to use email, except as maybe a voice mail service if the person is not at his desk or out of the office.

Keeping in mind I work in IT, nearly everyone I communcicate with is either in IT or is a developer, so there may be a different mindset about this. I don't interact with accounting or sales/marketing .

[Tekneek]

We use Jabber a lot at work, as well as an internal IRC server. Management's use of Jabber extends only to "Come to my office now" messages. Pretty much everything "official" runs through email.

I use AIM to stay in touch with family while at work. I often forget to ever connect any IM clients while at home. I tend to prefer email as a communications medium because you can take more time with it. People get impatient while waiting for IM replies. I get really annoyed with an AIM window that keeps opening/blinking with "are you there?" type messages in it.

[Rizon]

If they're on the internet so much, when do they have time to get drunk and high???

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by Rizon

If they're on the internet so much, when do they have time to get drunk and high???

They are on the Internet when they do that, perhaps?

They plan these events while on the net, at least.

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

The whole aol addiction annoys me. I really think a high percentage of teens and young adults are seriously addicted to this crap. I mean my girlfriend for one, shes a compulsive aim away message checker. What pisses me off even more if that she must alert the world on what she is doing every second of the day. I mean she will have away messages like "Im about to eat dinner" "I just spilled some cereal" "Im thinking about what im going to do tonight", its so stupid that other people will know more about what shes doing than even me.

End of rant......

[Buccaneer]

Two questions:
1) Are we becoming or have we become a culture of the "immediate" and dare I say, impulsiveness or instant gratification? I know this trend has been going on for a long time now but I wonder where does this lead?
2) What about the "style" of communication (ignoring the "method")? How does that relate to conversation speech patterns or to more traditional written communications (such as report writing, etc)?

[jeff061]

Outside of work I use IM very very little. Mostly phone calls and emails.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

2) What about the "style" of communication (ignoring the "method")? How does that relate to conversation speech patterns or to more traditional written communications (such as report writing, etc)?

The decline in writing ability in the office first became apparent to me as far back as 10 years ago, so I can only imagine how bad it's gotten now (or how bad its going to get).

[Daimyo]

IM and email both have their uses IMO. Email is really for non-time sensitive issues, for things that require a paper trail, or for when encryption/signing is require for secure communication. When you have a quick question IM is so much faster. I bet for the how most people currently use email, IM is much more efficient. Over the next five years I think you'll see it much more in traditional workspaces and not just in IT.

[Daimyo]

DOLA, especially with everyone moving to VoIP. IM will probably be intregrated into that system for most businesses and will be widely used.

[korme]

This is all true

[Ajaxab]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Two questions:
1) Are we becoming or have we become a culture of the "immediate" and dare I say, impulsiveness or instant gratification? I know this trend has been going on for a long time now but I wonder where does this lead?
2) What about the "style" of communication (ignoring the "method")? How does that relate to conversation speech patterns or to more traditional written communications (such as report writing, etc)?

I would have to say the first would definitely have something to do with AIM craze. It might also have to do with our desire for face-to-face communication in a world in which we are increasingly physically distant. AIM becomes another way to approximate the face-to-face where it isn't possible and in a more immediate way than e-mail.

As for the second, I haven't been teaching for a long time, but in the last four or five years I see less and less of an ability for my students to think deeply about a given idea. It seems easy for them to flit around from thought to though, but developing that thought into something analytically penetrating seems very difficult for them. I've wondered if the AIM writing frequency might be one of the causes behind the relative depthlessness I'm seeing. With that said, I do wonder what we'd find if we went back to see if people were saying similar things about the telephone/telegraph when they were invented to see if people at the turn of the 20th century were lamenting the move towards Hemingway-esque kinds of writing and tight journalistic prose.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

If you're in the workplace, how is IM faster?

You can ask question while you're on the phone, they're on the phone, they're on another floor, etc... You can drop a line that they're sure to see when coming back to their desk, while some people don't check their email/voicemail as frequently.

It's used failry extensively in my office, but only among those of us about 27 and under.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Two questions:
1) Are we becoming or have we become a culture of the "immediate" and dare I say, impulsiveness or instant gratification? I know this trend has been going on for a long time now but I wonder where does this lead?

It's absolutely changing communication as we know it. How many of us hear half of dozens of personal converstations per day, from others on their cell phones? And do you know anyone that you can't really reach in less than 5 minutes through some form of communication? I don't know where this leads, but we're all very accessible these days. There are plenty of goods and bads to that.

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

2) What about the "style" of communication (ignoring the "method")? How does that relate to conversation speech patterns or to more traditional written communications (such as report writing, etc)?

In the most literal sense, i think we're going to see a gigantic reduction in quality of hand-writing. I know that hand-writing for even 5 minutes maked my hand hurt these days. Since I'm almost always at a computer when conducting business, i always just type into notepad while on the phone, thinking to myself, making a to-do list, etc.

I think the whole trend is that we're all more accessible, but at the same time less social. There is so much less person-to-person interaction on the streets these days because so many people are on their cell, their laptop, their blackberry, listening to an MP3 player, etc. Maybe it's just living in the NYC metro area (and working in NYC), but the amount of technology on display in any given block, train car, courtyard, is mind-blowing.

[Buccaneer]

Ajaxab, that is very interesting. I have used the exact same analogy you ended with as I read through the Civil War literature, esp. going from those written in the late 1800s versus the body of literature that became popular starting with Bruce Canton. However, I would argue the point that even though there were a fundamental shift in the mode of communication, developing analytical thought remained (or actually increased due to tightness). I don't foresee this changing in the next 20 years but what happens after that? As you have pointed out, and as I have witnessed among recent HS and college graduates (as well as here at FOFC), what if one cannot adequately write a coherant thought or express a topical point so all could understand?

[Ajaxab]

cthomer's point about the ubiquity of communication technologies might also have something to do with the seeming inability of students to think deeply about problems and ideas. It's staggering to me that as soon as I walk out of class, the first thing I see is myriad numbers of people going to their cell phones or their mp3 players. It seems that few people actually walk around campus without some kind of technological extension and just think as they go from class to class. It's almost as though there's a fear of silence.

Per Bucc's point about the change in analytical thought, people writing at the turn of the 20th century managed to develop ways to think and express themselves coherently through their new media. I wonder if the students of today may end up doing the same. Of course, those of us who lament these changes and appreciate the older forms of expression (like me) may not necessarily appreciate the new.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

And do you know anyone that you can't really reach in less than 5 minutes through some form of communication?

Yeah ... virtually anybody that I actually need to reach. Seriously.

Successful contact on a first try seems quite a bit lower to me than it was, say, 10 years ago. Seems that the ease of communication you're talking about also creates a boatload of chit-chatty/b.s. stuff that takes away from actual work.

There is so much less person-to-person interaction on the streets these days because so many people are on their cell, their laptop, their blackberry, listening to an MP3 player, etc.

I think there probably is a certain amount of location working on your perception there, although randomly strolling through Atlanta wouldn't lack the same visuals. Still, I can honestly tell you that I've can't recall seeing any adult that I actually know using a CD/MP3/Personal audio device except while jogging or exercising. I know a few blackberry addicts (all under 30), a few more cell phone junkies (the younger they are, the worse the addiction) and can think of one person who probably needs a laptop support group.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I think there probably is a certain amount of location working on your perception there, although randomly strolling through Atlanta wouldn't lack the same visuals. Still, I can honestly tell you that I've can't recall seeing any adult that I actually know using a CD/MP3/Personal audio device except while jogging or exercising. I know a few blackberry addicts (all under 30), a few more cell phone junkies (the younger they are, the worse the addiction) and can think of one person who probably needs a laptop support group.

Can you just see it?

"Nerdlinger, you're in need of an intervention"
"Put me down... no, my laptop! I can't be without my laptop!"
"Where you're going, you won't need a laptop"
"Noooooo!"

SI

[Daimyo]

I wonder if people had the same concerns about the sky falling when the telephone, faxes, and email started to become popular?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

I wonder if people had the same concerns about the sky falling when the telephone, faxes, and email started to become popular?

Well, I don't see anyone saying the sky is falling, but you can't tell me that this current technology hasn't changed how people act. I'm guessing the same was true when those technologies were introduced.

SI

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

I wonder if people had the same concerns about the sky falling when the telephone, faxes, and email started to become popular?

No, emails just became an electronic version of newsletters and interoffice mail, as well as letter writing. The same thoughtful message is just distributed faster. IM is more for p2p chatting, an electronic telephone if you will. That will not supersede any intelligent communications that have to be done.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

No, emails just became an electronic version of newsletters and interoffice mail, as well as letter writing. The same thoughtful message is just distributed faster. IM is more for p2p chatting, an electronic telephone if you will. That will not supersede any intelligent communications that have to be done.

To be fair, a few years ago, there was a lot of talk about how the informality of email would destroy formal writing, replacing letters and the like. It has made business communication somewhat more informal with emails replacing interoffice memos. Good/bad- I don't know. It seems like you still have to use the english language to communicate with those and even formal language at times. No 1337-speak in the office. Probably will be the same for business as IM becomes more prevalent. Both(/all) people still have to understand the message and in a formal workplace, it's not as if you'll be talking shorthand to management.

Personal use, well, we already knew that some people are idiots- this just makes it so they remove all doubt via text rather than speech.

SI

[Daimyo]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

No, emails just became an electronic version of newsletters and interoffice mail, as well as letter writing. The same thoughtful message is just distributed faster. IM is more for p2p chatting, an electronic telephone if you will. That will not supersede any intelligent communications that have to be done.

And you think there is something inherent in the medium that leads to thoughtful messaging? I think its more likely that people take the time to craft thoughtful messages because they understand that their piers and superiors will see it and form opinions based upon it... there really isn't any different with IM I don't think. Perhaps you don't have to take the time to frame an idea and supporting evidence in one package because there is more back and forth communication involved that allows the original message to have less depth, but that doesn't really make face to face meetings any less thoughtful or professional does it?

I use IM often to communicate with vendors and consultants (and occasionally with coworkers when they work from home) and I've never seen anyone use "leet speak" or be any less professional than they are in email or on the phone. I think you guys benoaning IM and its place in the near-future workplace are confusing the technology or medium with the instance of the medium used by young, immature people. There is nothing immature, unintelligent, or less thoughtful about the technology itself or its potential.

[Buccaneer]

Daimyo, I understand. I have used IM for tech support and have seen the results of many chats (including the FOF and Civ ones). The one thing that strikes me about it all is the necessary brevity. For those disciplined enough, one can make the point in a short phrase (as Jim and others have shown, including my experiences in tech support). However, it cannot effectively replace what we have now and I think the original point of the thread shows that emails, blogs, BBS such as this and other forms of communications are for "old" people. To supplement, yes, but I don't see anyone trying to make the point that you just did very well with this method.