14 DAY TRIAL // A study performed by Nielsen Online indicates the preferences of British children and young adults when it comes to online navigation. Children under 12 have a strong affinity for "kids, games and toys" websites - with cartoons or simple games, which are especially designed to meet the entertainment needs of the youngest Internet users. Online gaming is not a very appealing field for the little ones, as they still lack the capacity to perform several tasks at the same time and some of them cannot read very well. Young girls seem to be most engaged in online activities, as Stardoll, a fashion community, accounts for 32% of the under 12 public.
As they grow up, children become more interested in social networking and online gaming. In the 12-17 age category, Frengo, a mobile social networking website, attracts 26% of the population within the mentioned age span. Also, RuneScape, FreeOnlineGames, AddictingGames and MiniClip are some of the most appreciated online resources.
"As children hit their teenage years, general entertainment sites tend to make way for games-focused sites, which offer a massive range of easily accessible games and ensure that teenage gaming activity extends far beyond the PS3, Wii and Xbox consoles," explains Alex Burmaster, Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online.
People between 18 and 22 share their time between responsible activities and entertainment ones fairly equal. The first three websites in the chart for this age span are two student loan companies and one educational resource. All the other popular websites are related to several types of activities: movies, videos, online games, web hosting or portals.
The repartition of entertainment vs. financial or educational aspects gets an explanation from Burmaster. "It's interesting to see that the sites with the heaviest concentration of young adults split into two conflicting groups - functional and entertainment. This mirrors the uneasy transition of growing up from teenage years into adulthood and the associated increase in responsibility. Whilst entertainment, mainly through video sites, still has a place, this has been usurped by the need to investigate higher education and financing oneself through it."