YouTube: Usage and Abusage
‘Irish teenagers present findings of survey on YouTube at international EU conference in London’
The YouTube: Usage and Abusage survey, a project run by pupils from Rockbrook School and members of the Anchor Youth Centre, recently unveiled its findings at the EU Kids Online Conference in the London School of Economics on Thursday 11 June 2009. The report is the culmination of 8 months of international research by five Irish teenagers into how minors use the popular video hosting website YouTube.
The discovery that half of all male adolescents have at one point in their cyber surfing experience viewed inappropriate content on what is considered to be a family friendly site is cause for concern. The five Irish youths co-ordinating the research have called for greater awareness and concern regarding the lack of age-verification measures on YouTube and on the Internet as a whole.
Conor Scally (16) one of the young researchers, said: ‘The fundamental lack of any means by which any individual -never mind a child- may validate their age is worrying, and a question that is as yet unanswered. Our aim has been to raise awareness about this crucial subject, while also gaining a greater in-depth knowledge about how children are acting on what is undoubtedly the most prominent video-sharing site on the web today.’
Luison Lassala from the Anchor Youth Centre, who coordinated the teenagers’ project, expressed the view that whilst greater protection would be welcome on the Internet, we should not get overly alarmed about what goes on in sites like YouTube. ‘Adults tend to have a very negative view on children’s behaviours online. This survey shows that most young people access websites like YouTube for amusement, to listen to music, etc and the vast majority of them do not try to access inappropriate material for their age.’
The Conference at LSE showcased research about children and the Internet undertaken by members of the EU Kids Online network over the last two years. It was attended by more than 200 expert delegates on the field from all over Europe, including some Irish staff from the Dublin Institute of Technology and the National Centre for Technology in Education who are members of the EU Kids Online network.
About the Survey
An international survey, performed through five European states (Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland) conducted by five Irish teenagers from Rockbrook Park School and the Anchor Youth Centre aiming to investigate user patterns of 12 to 17 year olds on YouTube. The project received over 3200 completed questionnaires, and 12 youths were interviewed on a one to one basis to corroborate the findings of the quantitative survey. InterMedia Consulting, an educational NGO based in Italy, assisted the young Irish researchers with funding and technical advice.
Download the Final Report of the survey here.
Key Findings
- 94% of the 3,200+ youths surveyed have accessed YouTube at some stage.
- Most young users of YouTube from the surveyed countries tend to be very passive in how they use the website: only 36% have created an account (which is required to take interactive actions like adding friends, leaving comments, rating and uploading videos, etc). Girls (30%) are even less likely than boys (43%).
- Only 39% have left comments on videos and less than 30% have ever uploaded any videos. Over 85% do not have added any friends on YouTube which shows this website is not used as a social networking site by most minors.
- 61% claim to never have attempted accessing videos rated for over-18s. However among boys the rate of those who did access over-18s videos is higher: 50%
- The majority of youths surveyed (54%) watch YouTube videos in their own rooms, including a high percentage of those under 13 years of age (48%),
- Music was the video category chosen as most popular by most minors (by a long shot), but boys tend to be much more varied in the video categories they watch than girls (who chose Music mostly).
- Hardly any of the minors surveyed (only 18%) had looked at the Safety Advice links provided in all the pages of the YouTube website
Further details about the survey from:
Conor Scally, Rockbrook Park School, Edmondstown Rd, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16
E-mail: scallyconor@hotmail.com Tel: +353 1 4906250
Luisón Lassala, Anchor Youth Centre, Artane, Dublin 5
E-mail: luison13@gmail.com, Tel: +353-86-0853096
Further details about the EU Kids Online 2009 Report from:
Prof Sonia Livingstone (s.livingstone@lse.ac.uk)