14 DAY TRIAL // A new Morgan Stanley report sheds some new light on the way teenagers consume new and old media, finding that traditional outlets like TV, radio and newspapers are mostly avoided but also that some new forms, like Twitter, aren't that popular with the younger set, backing up some earlier research. However, the most interesting fact about this new report isn't the data but rather the researcher behind it, a 15-year-old intern working with the security firm.
While the study isn't representative or statistical, the researchers at Morgan Stanley believed that the “piece provides one of the clearest and most thought provoking insights [they] have seen” so they went on and published it. The intern, Matthew Robson, didn't use any exhaustive research techniques but rather asked his friends about their preferences and habits. Gimmicky or not, the findings are interesting.
"Teenagers are consuming more media, but in entirely different ways and are most certainly not prepared to pay for it. They resent intrusive advertising on billboards, TV and the Internet,” Edward Hill-Wood, Patrick Wellington and Julien Rossi, Morgan Stanley analysts, said, commenting Robson's findings. “Print media (newspapers, directories) are viewed as irrelevant but events (cinema, concerts etc.) remain popular and one of the few beneficiaries of payment. The convergence of gaming, TV, mobile and Internet is accelerating with huge implications for pay-TV.”
The drop in old media usage should come as no surprise to anyone and in fact not even TV is as popular as it used to be. While teenagers still watch TV they don't do it on a regular basis but rather just to follow a particular program or the events they are interested in, like football matches, as long as these are airing. However, new media may not be as popular as one might expect, at least not all of it, as Twitter is largely unused by the younger generation, which sees it as a largely pointless activity, preferring other types of social media platforms. Among them is Facebook, of course, which is very popular, but also YouTube and other online services.