Irish Media Nation

Digital natives: how Irish teens live online. SEE VIDEO

Plugged-in: study finds Irish, ages 13-19, are teenagers…as in typical teenagers, living much of their lives on-line. A recent study of the media habits of Irish teens show them communicating with friends by text messaging (56 percent) and by Facebook (38 percent) and with their parents by shrugs, scowls, eye-rolls and monosyllabic grunts (87 percent--not part of the study, pure conjecture on my part).

The Irish Digital Teen Survey was undertaken in November by Mulley Communications Ltd., an online marketing and PR consultancy based in Cork and Dublin that actively studies Irish digital space. You can download a pdf of the just released Irish Digital Teen Survey, but here are some highlights of their look at Irish teen media interaction:
· 14% have a part-time job
· 28% spend their money on socializing, 27% on phone credit
· Gig tickets and music is what teens buy most online
· Most teens use their parents credit card or laser to buy online
· Phone is the most treasured item of teens
· Teens are not downloading all their music for free
· Most music recommendations come via friends
· Nearly half of teens use the online TV players from media organizations with 40% streaming TV and over one-third watching via playback services
· 44% of teens are on Meteor (Irish cellphone/mobile digital provider)
· Nokia are the most popular phones, the iPhone is the most desired
· 74% access the Internet on their mobiles per month
· Communicating with friends: 56% via text message, 38% via Facebook, phone call 28%, email 27%

Irish video nuggets from YouTube stream SEE VIDEOS

Looking back at the Irish digital media footprint in 2010, I’m stumbling across a few video nuggets gleamed from the relentless social media stream. As 2010 really put the “dismal” in the “dismal science” of economics, maybe these YouTube robots, teddy bears and cartoon characters make as much sense of the Irish economic situation as anyone else.

Xtranormal.com lets you script your own little film with professional looking animation and quirky computer-generated voices, for example these robo-pundits worrying that the Irish people will get very angry at the economic situation…once the popular TV talent show “The X-Factor” wraps-up for the season.