Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 18, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
‘Young people lead the way on the web,’ said President Prof Dr August-Wilhelm Scheer. ‘Whether it is messages to friends, music or films — hardly any teenager today would want to do without the internet.’ It is noticeable that girls use the internet primarily for communication and for targeted support with school assignments. By contrast, boys use the internet more heavily for general information and entertainment offerings such as music, films and current news.
In principle, however, there are hardly any differences between girls and boys in terms of internet affinity. 85 percent of boys and 80 percent of girls aged 12 to 19 are regularly online. Educational level plays a greater role. Thus, 88 percent of grammar-school pupils are regularly online, but only 82 percent of intermediate-school pupils and 72 percent of lower-secondary-school pupils. This is the result of a study by the Medienpädagogischer Forschungsverbund Südwest (MPFS).
The most popular application is instant messaging. At 72 percent, it is more important to young people than email (60 percent). Every second young person listens to music over the internet, and 40 percent research subjects that interest them on the web.
Interactive web offerings are gaining importance. Four out of ten teenagers and young adults have created a profile on an online network (community). Overall, every second young user aged between 14 and 29 publishes personal information on the web. This emerges from a current Forsa survey commissioned by BITKOM.
BITKOM recommends that young users actively pay attention to data protection and consider carefully which personal information can really be disclosed. ‘Usually, you yourself have the ability to choose the right degree of privacy,’ says Prof Scheer. Members of communities could, for example, specify that diaries and party photos are accessible only to friends. ‘When applying for a job, it can certainly be harmful if a candidate puts their entire private life on display online.’ Once created, information often remained on the web for a long time.
