Digital study reveals gender divide in Facebook use

A long-term study of today’s digital generation
Second Report - Summer 2011

A long-term study of today’s digital generation Second Report - Summer 2011 © Amaze
executive
summary
The Amaze Generation is the first to have grown up
in a world where every aspect of communication,
entertainment, social activity, as well as their private and
school lives, are entwined with technology. It is a switched
on generation that lives in a state of constant connected
communication, where technology is a base commodity
to be consumed and exploited as part of everyday life.
This report outlines the findings from the second phase of the Amaze Generation study;
a five-year research project that closely follows a group of 10-15 year olds, in order to explore
their use of and attitude towards digital technologies and the internet. The objective of the
study is to understand the evolving relationship this group of ‘digital natives’ has with these
technologies, and to spot trends and changes in their behaviour and attitude towards the
digital medium.
A key focus of this second wave of analysis has been on their interaction with Facebook.

Key findings
Facebook use
The main reasons this generation joins Facebook are peer pressure and the need to be kept
in the loop with their friends, with 100% of the group citing ‘staying in touch’as a key reason
for joining.
Interestingly, the boys believe they are just as ‘nosey’ as the girls, when it comes to wanting
to know what their friends are doing.
Most of this generation is quite concerned with how they are perceived by others online, and are
keen not to be seen as being immature. Some of the group even go so far as to remove older
posts on their Facebook page, if they feel they are too juvenile. They are also quite critical of
people they believe produce either too much, or uninteresting content.
This generation is not currently interested in location services, such as Foursquare or Facebook
places. Neither is the group very engaged with Facebook games, which they generally view as
boring or childish.
A key Facebook feature that both boys and girls seem to value is Chat, which most people
admit they don’t log out of, and which seems to have superceded MSN’s Instant Messenger
tool.
This generation is fairly open to accepting new friends on Facebook, accepting people based
on the number of mutual friends they have, even if they don’t really know the person requesting
to be their friend. This means that most people have a high number of friends.
Can you imagine not
having Facebook?
“I can imagine, but
I wouldn’t like it.”
The gender divide
Whilst almost three quarters of the Amaze Generation currently uses Facebook, twice as many
boys are using the platform than girls. The boys also use it more regularly, with 70% of the boys
using the social network every day, compared to only 40% of the girls.
Boys also seem to be more interested in expressing themselves online than girls, with boys
being three times more likely to update their status. The girls tend to be spectators more than
contributors, preferring to ‘like’ rather than comment, and only update their Facebook status
twice a week, on average, compared to the boys, who update their status daily.
Surprisingly, however, despite their prolific use of Facebook, the boys seem to be less
concerned than the girls about how others view them on the networking site.
Brand engagement
The study reveals that most brands are currently failing to engage with this generation, which
prefers to follow their favourite singers, bands or celebrities. This failure to connect is likely to
be due to the ways brands are trying to approach this generation, and they may have more
success if they look to interact with this group in a more informative or entertaining way, such as
via competitions, discounts or access to new products or services prior to their general release.
Privacy and security
Privacy and security are two main concerns for parents, although this study suggests that the
Amaze Generation is much more aware of these issues than many give them credit for. The
group said they take steps to protect themselves by not sharing their personal information
online and also by changing their privacy settings so that only friends can view their information.

Misunderstandings
This generation is very aware of how misunderstandings can be created when communicating
via Facebook, with 80% of the group believing it is either very or quite easy for the meaning to
be misinterpreted. Some of the group said they use emoticons to try to express what they mean.
Perhaps as a consequence of this, very few within the group said they would express their
emotions via Facebook, and thought that people who did so were only looking for attention.
The exception to this seems to be shared experiences, such as exam time, when they felt
comfortable saying they were feeling nervous about exams.
Power of the Blackberry
The majority of the group (95%) own a mobile phone. Blackberry is still the clear brand leader
for this generation, primarily due to the BBM instant messenger app, which is used by everyone
in the group who has a Blackberry device. Another factor driving the popularity of the Blackberry
is the Facebook update functionality, which sends a notification to the handset as soon as there
is an update on the user’s Facebook account.
The iPhone is the second most popular phone brand, with most of the group thinking it has the
‘cool’ factor.
Technology ownership and usage
When it comes to the latest games consoles, Xbox Kinect is the clear console of choice, with
almost half (45%) of the group having one in their home. Other new consoles, such as the
Nintendo 3DS and the Playstation Move, however, are not nearly as popular, with none of the
group currently owning either.
The iPad is the clear market leader in tablet devices, with over half (55%), saying they have one
at home. None of the group had used or had access to any other tablet device.
Girls seem to be showing the highest increase in technology multi-tasking. Boys, however,
still dominate the use of consoles. Interestingly, girls seem to start interacting with technology
at an earlier age than boys. This seems to go against normal perceptions that boys are more
‘techie’ than girls.

insights into the
amaze generation
Top 5 reasons for joining Facebook Reason
Rated 1
Reason
Rated 2
Reason
Rated 3
Reason
Rated 4
Reason
Rated 5
Stay in touch with friends 62.5% 25.0% 12.5%
Update my friends on my life 6.3% 18.8% 12.5% 18.8%
Meet new people 12.5% 6.3% 12.5%
Entertainment 18.8% 12.5% 18.8% 12.5%
Fill up spare time 6.3% 25.0% 12.5% 18.8%
Share my opinion 12.5% 6.3%
Express myself 12.5% 6.6% 6.3%
Stay up to date on news/events 12.5% 6.3% 18.8% 25.0%
Because friends are on Facebook 31.3% 12.5% 6.3% 12.5% 18.8%
Top 5 reasons for joining Facebook
Percentage of respondents
Stay in touch with friends 100%
Update my friends on my life 56.3%
Meet new people 31.3%
Entertainment 62.5%
Fill up spare time 62.5%
Share my opinion 18.8%
Express myself 25.0%
Stay up to date on news/events 62.5%
Because all my friends are on Facebook 81.3%
Facebook
It is clear that Facebook continues to play a key role in the Amaze Generation’s digital
behaviour, with 75% of the whole group admitting that they currently use the site. Interestingly,
there seems to be a gender divide on how many of the group use Facebook, with 100% of
the boys using the popular social media platform, compared to only 50% of the girls. Moreover,
70% of the boys use social networks every day, as opposed to 40% of the girls.
figure 1
figure 3
figure 2
Overall, peer pressure and the need to keep “in the loop” with friends appear to be the main
drivers for the Amaze Generation to use Facebook.
Staying in touch with friends is given as the key reason for joining the platform, with 100% of the
group citing that as one of their top three reasons for joining. Staying in touch with their friends
is more important to the girls though, with 83.3% choosing it as the number one reason, as
opposed to 50% of the boys.
There also seems to be a gender divide, when it comes to the other motivators for joining the
site. The second most popular reason is because all their friends are on Facebook; for boys
it appears that peer influence has a stronger effect, with 40% giving that as a key reason,
compared to just 17% of girls. Interestingly, boys also seem more keen to use the site as a way
of filling up their time, with 10% citing that as their primary reason for using the site, whereas
none of the girls chose that as their main motivator for joining the site.
Top 5 reasons for joining Facebook
Female
% of respondents
Stay in touch with friends 100% 100%
Update my friends on my life 50.0% 60.0%
Meet new people 33.3% 30.0%
Entertainment 66.7% 60.0%
Fill up spare time 66.7% 60.0%
Share my opinion 30.0%
Express myself 16.7% 30.0%
Stay up to date on news/events 83.3% 50.0%
Because all my friends are on Facebook 83.3% 80.0%
Male
% of respondents

What they do on Facebook
When questioned in more detail on their Facebook activity, the group seems to conform to the
Forrester Social Technographics Model, which look at how people use social media and classifies
people depending on their level of participation and interaction. As their most recent European
Social Technographics* profile demonstrates, there are more spectators and consumers of content
rather than contributors in this generation, which is mirrored in our results.
The girls, in particular, seem to prefer to see what their friends and peers are doing, rather than
post information about themselves, and are more likely to ‘like’ rather than comment. This seems
to be the reverse with boys, however, who are over three times more likely to update their status
than the girls, with the boys updating their status daily, as opposed to the girls, who only update
their status twice a week.
This behaviour underlines the boys’ main reasons for joining Facebook, which include a much
higher propensity for sharing and expressing themselves online - this also seems to be evident in
their activity on the site. The qualitative data collected from the face-to-face interviews, underlines
this analysis.
U
pdated
yourstatusLiked
som
ething
Shared
som
ething
C
om
m
ented
on
som
eone
else’s
status
Senta
m
essage
U
sed
Facebook
chatPoked
som
eone
G
iven
a
gift
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
Mean
In the last week how many times have you
Female
Male
Gender
In the last week how many times have you Mean
Updated your status 5.2
Liked something 16.3
Shared something 4.5
Commented on someone else’s status 20.6
Sent a message 13.0
Used Facebook chat 18.0
Poked someone 1.2
Given a gift 0.2
Sample = 15
In the last week how many times have you Female
Mean
Updated your status 1.8 7.1
Liked something 25.2 11.3
Shared something 5.8 3.8
Commented on someone else’s status 8.4 27.3
Sent a message 10.6 14.3
Used Facebook chat 11.2 21.8
Poked someone 2.0 0.8
Given a gift 0.6 0.0
Male
Mean
Sample = 15
figure 4
figure 5
figure 6
*Forrester European Social Technographics 2010 report

This generation seems to be very aware of how their online activity may reflect on how they are
perceived by others, with many of those interviewed revealing that they believe that how and
what you post is seen as a measure of maturity, especially by the girls.
This was further evidenced by the concern the group expressed over the amount and frequency
of information being posted, with the majority expressing their opinion that those who posted
large numbers of trivial updates were a nuisance and that ‘over posting’ would annoy others.
This was demonstrated through comments such as:
“Some people upload too much.”
“People clog up my news feed by saying too much.”
“Some people are so annoying and all over Facebook.”
Many of the group appear to treat this deluge of information posted on Facebook as spam,
and tend to ignore it. They also do not seem to want to be viewed as producers of annoying
posts, with the girls being particularly conscious of what others may think of their comments.
Still influenced by those older than themselves, the Amaze Generation appear to appreciate
it if an older friend ‘notices’ them and likes one of their photos or comments on their posts.
They also seem sensitive to older friends potentially viewing how and what they comment on
Facebook as a sign of immaturity.
A number of the group admitted that, when they look back on past comments, they do not know
why they said certain things or why they thought their comments or posts were funny at the time.
They also said that they recognize this as an ongoing process, as they grow and mature.
One member of the group even went as far as to remove old posts on her Facebook page,
in order to avoid embarrassment and being seen to be immature.
On the whole, the boys seem to be slightly less concerned about how others viewed them
on Facebook than girls.
Most members of the group, however, seem to agree that it can be difficult to interpret what
people mean on Facebook, and that it is open to misunderstanding. When questioned about
the confusion in tone and meaning, 80% said it was either very or quite easy for the meaning
to be misinterpreted.
“The point of Facebook
is not to be private, to
share everything and to
stay in touch.”

Many of those interviewed in more detail about misunderstandings being propagated via
Facebook, gave an example of how they tried to avoid them and how easy it is for the meaning
to be confused. Quotes from the group include:
“It’s much easier to confuse the meaning” and you have to be more careful of what you say
on Facebook.
You need to “think before you speak, think before you write.”
“There’s no emotion, just words”… was one of the reasons given as to why it is easier for
the meaning to be confused.
One of the boys interviewed said that he always thinks about what he posts, including the tone
of the content, and often uses emoticons, such as smiley faces, to make sure his peers/friends
understand his meaning, if he thinks there is a chance his post might be misunderstood.
The girls are also very conscious of the consequences of their actions online, with one admitting
that she had recently fallen out with a friend. As a result, she said that she now tries to ensure
that what she has written cannot be misinterpreted in any way that might be used against her.
This generation
seems to be
acutely aware
that any confusion
or disagreement
arising over
Facebook, can
have an effect
in their real life.
Some cited knowledge of arguments starting on Facebook and then carrying on into their life
offline, and they are all aware that things have been taken the wrong way by people they know
in the past.
Interestingly, one of the children revealed in his interview that he has studied the difference
between interpreting text/Facebook speak and proper written English, as part of his English
GSCE. During the module they had to study two pieces of text, one in full written English and
another in text speak and then discuss their interpretation of the two texts. With the full written
English text, the whole class had made the same interpretation, whereas everyone
had reached slightly different conclusions with the text/Facebook speak version.
Another interesting finding is that very few of the interviewees said they would express their
emotions via Facebook updates. The only exceptions appear to be when they refer to shared
experiences, such as anxiety or nervousness ahead of an exam. Many seem happy to express
superficial emotions, such as saying they find something exciting or cool, but are less inclined
to discuss their deeper emotions. The whole group said they believed that people who talked
about their emotions on Facebook were only doing so to seek attention or sympathy.

Brands
The Amaze Generation is not currently engaging with brands on Facebook, although they will
follow their favourite singers, bands and celebrities. From our face to face discussions and
the interviews it can be seen that this could be as a consequence of not being approached by
brands in the right way.
Furthermore, those who admitted they had “liked” brands in the past also said that they did not
tend to visit those pages again for updates. Therefore, this generation is not engaged or excited
enough by these brands to make them want to revisit their pages.
When discussing brands, however, despite no one saying they currently interact with them via
Facebook, only 31% said that they prefer not to engage with a brand at all on Facebook. This
shows us that the remaining 69% would potentially like to interact with brands on this platform,
but are clearly not being approached in the right way.
How would you like a brand to
engage with you on Facebook?
Keeping them informed is the most popular way this generation would like a brand to engage
with them. Almost a third (31.3%), of the group said they would like a brand to approach them
with some form of entertainment, with boys more than twice as likely as girls to choose this
option.
Girls are more interested in interacting with a brand to improve their knowledge, keep them
informed and to talk to them like a real person.
How would you like a brand to engage with you on Facebook?
No
Improve my knowledge 81.3% 18.8%
Keep me informed 56.3% 43.8%
Talking to me like a real person 81.3% 18.8%
Entertain me 68.8% 31.3%
Connect with people 100% 0.0%
I prefer not to engage 68.8% 31.3%
Yes
Im
prove
m
y
know
ledge
Keep
m
e
inform
ed
Talking
to
m
e
like
a
realpersonEntertain
m
e
C
onnectm
e
w
ith
people
Iprefernotto
engage
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
Percentage
agreeing
How would you like a brand to engage with you on Facebook?
Female
Male
Gender
40.0
50.0
of the group would potentially
like to interact with a brand
68.7%
figure 7
figure 8

What would encourage you to engage
with a brand?
The top three ways this generation said they would like brands to connect with them are:
competitions (37.5%)
discounts on future purchases (25%)
access to new products prior to their launch (25%)
Again, none of the group is interested in being able to interact with and talk to people at the
company or use them for customer service related reasons. They are looking to be engaged,
but clearly want to gain something from this brand interaction.
Discounts
on
future
purchases
C
ustom
erservice
C
om
petitions
Acess
to
new
products
priorto
theirlaunch
Being
asked
to
com
e
up
w
ith
new
ideas
forproducts
Exclusive
new
s
orinform
ation
aboutthe
brand
To
be
able
to
interactand
talk
to
people
atthe
com
pany
Ifm
y
friends
have
follow
ed/befriended
them
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
Percentage
agreeing
What would encourage you to engage with a brand?
40.0
Ihave
no
interestin
befriending
brands
Discounts
on
future
purchases
C
ustom
erservice
C
om
petitions
Access
to
new
products
priorto
theirlaunch
Being
asked
to
com
e
up
w
ith
new
ideas
forproducts
Exclusive
new
s
orinform
ation
aboutthe
brand
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
Percentage
agreeing
What would encourage you to engage with a brand?
Less than 13.5
More than 13.5
Age
40.0
50.0
To
be
able
to
interactand
talk
to
people
atthe
com
pany
Ifm
y
friends
have
follow
ed/befriended
them
Ihave
no
interestin
befriending
brands
When we looked at this by age, the older children show a higher propensity for wanting to
engage, or being willing to engage with brands. This would appear to coincide with spending
power, as older children tend to have more access to pocket money to spend, and we would
therefore expect discounts and promotions to become more of a driver for this age range.
As the Facebook minimum age is 13, brands should only be targeting this older group via this
platform.
figure 9
figure 10

How many friends do you have?
Intersperience* research found that those aged 13 to 16 have an average of 450 friends on
social networks, with girls having slightly more friends than boys.
The study we conducted into the number of Facebook friends for this generation seems
to be closely aligned with the research undertaken by Intersperience in May 2011.
Our research revealed that the over 13.5 age group have an average of 486, compared to the
younger group with 271 friends. The girls have an average number of 512 friends, and boys
have an average of 323, signalling a clear gender difference. The highest number of friends for
a boy in this group is 740, compared to 1069 for one of the girls.
On the whole, the Amaze Generation is fairly flexible when it comes to accepting friend requests,
which helps to explain why so many of them have high numbers of friends. For example, even
if they are not sure they know the person who has asked to be their friend on Facebook, they will
often accept them if they have a number of mutual friends, assuming they must know them or
that enough other people know them for them to be acceptable. Sometimes, the group will look
to ask a friend for confirmation that the request comes from someone they know, but most of
the group said they would accept a new friend request if they think they might know or have
met that person.
This notion of accepting someone as a friend just because they have a certain number of
mutual friends, raised the question of how this generation classifies its friends, and the effect
this will have on their relationships as they mature.
The boys seem to be more reluctant to just accept new people as friends, but only one of the
boys says that he would only accept a new friend if he actually talks to them. It should be noted,
however, that none of the group has ever had a bad experience on Facebook, such as being
approached by complete strangers. Nor have any of them had any negative experience as a
result of accepting someone they do not really know.
The number of Facebook friends people have may continue to grow until at least university
age, and even beyond, as their social circle offline naturally expands through entering higher
education or the workplace.
*Intersperience quarterly eJournal - http://www.intersperience.com/article_more.asp?art_id=45

Privacy
This generation appears to have a good understanding of
the privacy settings on Facebook and are not as naïve as it
is commonly assumed.
They are all aware of the concerns around privacy and the sharing of personal information. As
can be seen in figure 11 most of the Amaze Generation have changed their settings from the
default so that only their friends can view their information. Interestingly, none of the group is
really worried about their privacy settings, as they seem to trust the security of the Facebook
platform.
They are also very aware of how to be more secure, such as not posting your address or
telephone number on the site. One of the girls said that even when setting up an event on
Facebook she wouldn’t list her address on the page, even if it was a private event, she would
ask people to send her a private message if they wanted it. This generation also seems to be
very careful about what they want in the public domain, and is aware of some of the potential
dangers of making this information available.
How do you have your privacy settings
Status, photos and posts 6.7% 93.3% 44
Bio and favourite quotations 13.3% 6.7% 80.0% 40
Family and relationships 6.7% 13.3% 80.0% 41
Tagged photos videos 6.7% 13.3% 80.0% 41
Contact info 93.3% 6.7% 46
Everyone Friends
of Friends
Friends Other Total
One of the girls said she thought it was ‘instinct’ to know what she should and should not post
on Facebook, and reiterated that she thought it was important to know about privacy.
When asked if they have any worries about privacy on Facebook we received responses such as:
“No because I have my settings on friends only.”
“No, its perfectly safe.”
“No, my privacy settings are secure.”
The parents of the group seem to be much more worried about the security issues than the
children themselves. “I haven’t (got any worries) but my mum worries about stuff”, said one of
the group, “nothing bad has ever happened to me”, nor has it to any of the children in the group
we spoke to. One of the Amaze Generation even spoke about how when he had joined the site
his mum had sat with him to ensure his privacy settings were locked down.
In the study, most of the group said that nearly every aspect of their Facebook profile could only
be looked at by their friends.
figure 11

Boys are just as nosey as girls
Facebook makes it much easier for a wider group of people
to access the details of people’s lives.
While this may be an obvious statement, it is interesting to note that, what was once
termed as ‘gossip’, and was predominantly viewed as a girl’s activity, is now openly pursued
by boys.
Comments from the group on this subject include:
“I think we’re all the same when you’re on Facebook.”
“I wasn’t interested in what everyone else was doing before Facebook.”
They also discuss that Facebook makes it easier to find out what your friends are doing and any
secrets, which will only have acted to encourage this increase in nosiness.
The boys still maintain that there is a difference between their activity and that of the girls. The
boys will admit to being just as interested in the lives and activities of their friends they do not
go on to discuss these things with friends or in the offline world. The boys admit they are just as
nosy as the girls, but believed that the girls continued to discuss or gossip with their friends over
the information they have discovered on Facebook.
Facebook has increased
how interested people are
in the lives and activities
of their friends and peers.

Location services have not yet made an impact on the Amaze Generation. This may be
because they are still at an age where the majority of their social activity takes place in the home
and at school. The appeal of location services is therefore unlikely to be aligned with their
current lifestyles.
As we have seen they discuss competitions and discounts as preferred ways for brands to
encourage them to engage and therefore we may see an uptake in location services as they
extend coupon/discount activity to offers which fit with this demographics’ lifestyles and
spending power.
The following gives an insight into the group’s feedback on location services:
Five have heard of Facebook places, three have used the service.
One person has heard of Foursquare, none have used the service.
None had heard of Gowalla, none have used the service.
Most of the group seem aware of the varying roles or functions of different social media tools,
such as Twitter and Facebook. Twitter is seen by some as a platform for a constant stream of
updates, which they believe would be inappropriate for Facebook.
Twitter also seems to be something they consider to be more relevant for slightly older people,
with only 10% of the group saying they currently use it frequently. One of the boys commented
that Twitter is not something he uses at the moment, but he thinks he will start using it and being
more interested in it soon.
Location services and other networks
Games
There appears to be very little interest in this group in Facebook games, with only one of the
boys admitting he is really interested in them. This is despite the fact that most of the group
seem to have all played games, such as Farmville, in the past.
Most of the group appear to have moved away from Facebook games, citing them as being
boring or childish.
All boys we spoke to face-to-face have an Xbox and some preferred to talk via Xbox while
playing a game, rather than using chat on Facebook, as they said Xbox offers a higher level
of interaction.
Chat
Chat plays an important role in this generation’s Facebook activity, with the group as a whole
admitting they don’t log out of chat. Interestingly, however, there is some indication that more of
the group are only interested in talking to people via chat that they also speak to face to face on
a regular basis.
The new feature, which adds chat comments to your inbox, was viewed very poorly by the group
and was disliked by everyone. Chat seems to have superceded MSN’s Instant Messenger tool
for this generation, with few people admitting they still use MSN, and most say that they used to
but now use Facebook chat.

Baseline Data and questionnaire
trends and insights
As this is the second phase of the study, it is anticipated
that there will only be slight developments since the first
report. However, there have been some interesting changes
between the first and second round of interviews that
are worth noting, as well as some new questions that were
added to the questionnaire for this phase.
The power of Blackberry
All but one of the group we spoke to face to face said that they wanted a Blackberry if
they didn’t already have one. There was one exception, who wanted an iPhone, whilst still
recognizing that most of his peers have Blackberrys.
The whole group agreed that most people they know have Blackberrys.
The mobile Facebook application for Blackberry sends the handset a notification when anything
happens to your Facebook profile or pages. As a result, the Blackberry users said they find
themselves checking it every time they receive a notification, meaning they tend to access
Facebook constantly throughout the day on their phones. BBM is a key driving factor for having
a Blackberry, and is used by all owners.
Mobile phones
This generation’s use of Blackberry devices seems to be increasing, with over 30% of the group
admitting to spending over three hours on their BlackBerry, compared to 20% in phase one. This
increase is only in the over 13.5s. The younger children’s usage is more or less the same overall
as before. Android use has also increased slightly amongst the boys, and Blackberry ownership
has also risen in this period from 25% to 40%. The vast majority (95%) of the group now own
a mobile phone. The number of text messages has also gone up since the first phase and the
average number of texts sent a day now is given as 50, compared with 17 in phase one.
When discussing their ideal phone, 45% said Blackberry, 30% said iPhone. When looking at the
reasons behind these choices, the iPhone appears to have the ‘cool’ factor and is regarded as
being attractive by the group, who described the iPhone as ‘awesome’, ‘it’s beautiful’ and ‘looks
nice’. The BBM functionality on the Blackberry, however, is the key driver behind its popularity,
with the perception that they also look nice being an added benefit.
Whilst 100% of the group mentioned BBM, none of them really discussed any of the other
functionality as being a key motivator for wanting the phone, as they appear to only really
be interested in how they will communicate with friends, and how it looks.

Technology ownership
When looking at some of the new devices that have come onto the market in the last
year or so, it is interesting to note the impact, or lack thereof they have had on the Amaze
Generation. Almost a third (30%) of the Amaze Generation now own an Xbox Kinect, and almost
half (45%) now have one in their home. When you consider that the Kinect product only came
out in November last year, that seems to be a very high proportion.
Other new games consoles, such as the Nintendo 3DS and the Playstation Move, on the other
hand, do not seem to be nearly as popular with this group, as none of the group owns either
console and only one of the group has ever played on the 3DS. The duration of time these
consoles have been on the market could have had an effect with this, however, as the Kinect
was released prior to Christmas, giving more people opportunity to purchase or receive it as
a gift. As the Nintendo 3DS is of a high enough cost it is unlikely to be bought on impulse but
rather purchased as a gift, and we may therefore see a rise in popularity with this product going
forward, especially after Christmas this year.
The iPad appears to dominate the tablet market with this generation, with 15% of our sample
now owning one themselves and 55% admitting to having one at home. The use of the iPad
has also increased. In phase one, 25% of the group said they used it occasionally, and 5% said
they used it every day. In phase two, however, 15% say they now use it occasionally, 30% use it
weekly and 10% use it every day.
iPad use has increased with 25% saying in phase one that they used it for less than an hour a
day on average. In phase two, 20% said they use it for less than an hour a day, while a further
20% also admitted to using it for 1-2 hours, and 10% use it for 2-3 hours. In comparison, none
of the children own or have used any other tablets that are now on the market, showing the
complete dominance of Apple in this age range.
of the Amaze
Generation
own a Xbox
Kinect
1/3
KINECT IMAGE HERE

Consoles
The Xbox Kinect product has been very well received by
this group, but there have also been changes in use of the
older consoles.
None of the group now plays with Gameboy, for example, whereas 25% of group claimed to be
using it during phase one.
The use of the Wii has also declined; in phase one we found that 35% of the group said they
used the Wii at least weekly, while this figure has now dropped to just 10%.
Use of the DS has also dropped; almost a third (30%) said they used the product at least once
a week in phase one, whereas this figure is now only 10%. The drop in use of the Wii and DS
consoles seems to be higher with the girls than the boys. The amount of time spent on the Xbox
is also down. Whereas over a third (35%) of the group used to spend over two hours playing on
it on an average day, this figure is now 10%. This drop is only amongst the boys.
While ownership of the Wii and DS consoles is evenly split, usage is different. Girls tend to be
more social when gaming, for example, with 60% of girls regularly using the Wii with friends,
compared to just 10% of boys.
When you look at ownership of these consoles, Xbox ownership, as you may expect, is much
higher in boys (70%), than girls (10%). There seems to be a greater divide in ownership between
the genders when it comes to Nintendo consoles; the Wii is evenly split, with 50% of the boys
and 50% of the girls owning a console. This changes to 70% for boys and 70% for the girls
with the DS. The Nintendo consoles seem to be used most socially, and are generally used
to play with family and friends, compared with the Xbox which is perceived to be for the more
serious gaming.
The Nintendo consoles seem to be used most socially, and are generally used to play with family
and friends, compared with the Xbox which is perceived to be for the more serious gaming.

Multi Tasking
The Amaze Generation appears to be increasing its multi-tasking abilities, with more of the
group combining the use of their phone with another device, such as a computer.
In terms of gender differences, girls appear to be showing the highest increase in usage, with
the exception of consoles. This indicates that girls are clearly now showing a much higher level
of multitasking. Examples of this include:
Phone and TV – female use has increased from 20% to 60%, whereas usage has not
changed amongst the boys
Phone and computer – usage has increased from 30% to 70% among the girls, and from
30% to 50% among the boys
Phone
and
TV
Phone
and
com
puter
Phone
and
console
TV
and
com
puter/tablet
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
Percentage
Multi-tasking abilities Round 1 (%)
Round 2 (%)
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
Website use
When asked to identify which websites the group ‘could not live without’ Google was selected
by 50%, followed by YouTube with 35% and then Facebook with 25%. Interestingly when pushed
to select their favourite website both Facebook and YouTube were the clear winners with both
sites accumulating 45% of the votes each. Formspring, which was not used by any in the phase
one study but is now used by 20% of the group but only by girls.
figure 12

What do your parents think of
how much time you spend online?
They
are
happy
They
ration
m
y
tim
e
They
think
Ispend
too
long
online
Don’tcare
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
Percentage
What parents think of how
much time they spend online
Round 1 (%)
Round 2 (%)
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
Almost half of the group thinks their parents are happy with the amount of time they spend
online, and the amount of people whose time is rationed by their parents has decreased.
Parents are more likely to ration the time spent online by the girls (20%), compared to the boys,
who did not seem to have their time rationed at all. Half of the boys (50%), however, believe
their parents think they spend too long online, compared to under a third (30%) of the girls.
Interestingly, the only figure which has changed for the boys in the group is the number of them
being rationed, which has fallen from 30% to none.
figure 13

When you look at the gender differences, however, there is a clear divide, which reveals that
the girls start interacting with digital technologies and devices a lot earlier than the boys.
The difference in age on average is just over a year, with girls starting to interact with digital
technology at around a year and 5 months (just under) ahead of the boys. This goes against
normal perceptions, as most people would believe the boys to be the more technically savvy
gender.
Em
ail
W
ebsitesM
obile
phoneC
onsole
gam
esO
nline
gam
es
C
om
putergam
es
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
Mean
Mean age when first used
Female
Male
Gender
8.0
10.0
Socialsites
M
P3
playerDigitalcam
era
Instantm
essaging
12.0
14.0
We asked the Amaze Generation what age they were when they first started using different
technologies and devices, and discovered some really interesting results.
On average the group are using computer games and websites before they are seven years
old, online and computer games before they reach eight, and mp3players and digital cameras
before they are nine.
Looking at the youngest age this group started to interact with these technologies, however
is very surprising, with members of the group saying they started to look at websites from
as young as two years old; cameras, computer games and online games at three years old;
consoles at four years old. The youngest person recorded using email in the group was six
years old, with others claiming to have used social sites from the age of eight.
Mean Minimum Maximum
Email 9.1 6.0 12.0
Websites 6.6 2.0 9.0
Mobile phone 9.2 5.0 11.0
Console Games 7.7 4.0 11.0
Online games 7.6 3.0 11.0
Computer games 6.6 3.0 11.0
Social sites 11.0 8.0 13.0
MP3 player 8.6 5.0 12.0
Digital camera 8.4 3.0 13.0
Instant messaging 10.2 8.0 13.0
figure 14
figure 15
What age were you when you first
started using different technologies?

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