The results of a three-year Digital Youth project have been released by the University of California. It seems like an impressive ethnographical study.
Here is an extract from the summary report (PDF 83kB):
Over three years, University of California, Irvine researcher and her research team interviewed over 800 youth and young adults and conducted over 5000 hours of online observations as part of the most extensive U.S. study of youth media use to date.
They found that social network sites, online games, video-sharing sites, and gadgets such as iPods and mobile phones are now fixtures of youth culture. The research finds today's youth may be coming of age and struggling for autonomy and identity amid new worlds for communication, friendship, play, and self-expression.
Many adults worry that children are wasting time online, texting, or playing video games. The researchers explain why youth find these activities compelling and important. The digital world is creating new opportunities for youth to grapple with social norms, explore interests, develop technical skills, and experiment with new forms of self-expression. These activities have captured teens' attention because they provide avenues for extending social worlds, self-directed learning, and independence.
I don't think the findings are hugely surprising, but they are very interesting and do support other research that has surfaced in recent years with regard to how "gen Y" use online media to extend friendships and interests and engage in peer-based, self-directed learning online.
There is some great content on the project website, but there could be better use of multimedia in terms of communicating the findings (there is some video on the McArthur Foundation website though).
[Thanks to Christo who first posted this to the Antrodesign mailing list]
