Children and their use of technology

Children play a huge role in the lives of a families, and marketers and strategic communicators now value the teenage age group due to their purchase power and influence.  A few questions arise with this age group such as, what’s the best way to communicate with teenagers, and a more fundamental question; what ways can parents limit the use of technology so it doesn’t overwhelm a child.

According to CBS News 9 out of 10 American teenagers use social media. The same article cited a 2014 survey by Piper Jaffray, an investment and asset management bank and firm, which found that 76% of surveyed teenagers cited Instagram as the most popular social media site. Instagram focuses on photo driven social media with limited words and a strong emphasis on hashtags. Twitter was second most popular at 59% followed by Facebook at 45% and 22% say they use Pinterest.

Most notable was the popularity of Facebook, or more like a decline, from the Spring of 2014 to Fall 2014 where the social media giant saw a decline in popularity of 27% by teenagers.

For strategic communicators, and marketers for that matter, finding ways to get messages to the coveted teenage age group is tough, to say the least. That’s why it’s important to stay on top of trending social media channels. What’s popular today may not be popular six months from now, hence the drop in Facebook usage of teenagers.

Finding the right message also takes some strategizing. It all goes back to remembering your target audience. What resonates with Baby Boomer probably won’t work well with Millennials or Generation Z.

Privacy is a big issue with young adults using technology tools such as blogs and social media.  A study by Sonia Livingstone at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK noted that young adults between the ages of 13 and 16 noted that utilize technology, specifically social media almost daily. But the one thing they are concerned about was privacy. The subjects in the study knew they had to protect themselves from outside predators through the help of privacy settings, but admitted they did not fully understand how to use or change the privacy settings.

This brings up a great question about how we as a society and as parents should do to ensure our children are protected as they navigate the digital expanse.  As with anything, moderation should be the keyword used by parents and experts. Much like trying to stay healthy and eating right, consuming alcohol, etc., doing so in moderation limits potential negative effects. So for technology, parents need to the watchful hawk monitoring their child’s online access and time. Furthermore, frank conversations need to take place where parents try to communicate that not everything on the internet is accurate. Starting those conversations early so children understand that to make an informed decision takes gathering information from a variety of credible resources and making a determination thereafter. Words that are easier to type then to place in action.

My DS who is a toddler is right at the center of being engaged in technology. As a parent I’m petrified on how to handle this phase. What’s the best way to introduce technology like a cell phone and tablet computers? And you see it almost every day while out and about. Children in restaurants with tablets playing a game or watching a show or movie to keep them occupied. Trying to define the line of when and where to allow children to use the available technology is becoming harder and harder, because it is everywhere.

I would make the case that if children are NOT introduced to technology, while their mind still has elasticity, the child may be behind when he/she enters a school setting where technology is seen as a learning tool in almost every classroom.

So my wife and I are thinking about purchasing a tablet for my son for Christmas. Amazon has recently come out with a small tablet designed specifically for children. What’s very attractive about the product is the ability to set time limits on screen time, what apps the child can access and removing the ability to purchase apps or additional items all together while in “kid mode.” It’s nice to see companies begin to understand the need to encourage how much time a child is exposed to technology. Because of Amazon’s ability to understand what parents want, I anticipate this tablet to be a very good seller.

I am amazed that our toddler almost instinctively knows how to use a cell phone or tablet. I imagine it is because he learns by observing and if he sees his parents using the devices, then it must mean it’s OK for him to use as well. Even when he first got a hold of one our cell phones by accident he intuitively knows to swipe left and right. Since we how have several generations who have been around for the technology revolution, are our children beginning to be prewired to be successful and even “survive” by using technology?

 I close out today’s posting with some final thoughts about technology and children. With so many apps, games, websites and other communication technologies, it is only going to get more difficult to protect our children. It’s up to us parents to find ways to inform our children and monitor their access, not to invade their privacy, but to protect them from outside forces. Let’s communicate with our kids, maybe even create an app or tech tool that will keep them safe while they’re online. Bottom line is parents are the first teachers, let’s not waste that opportunity.