Internet Safety and Life Study #SMWReporter

This post is one in the #SMWReporter series from Social Media Week Berlin. Thanks to Nokia for covering travel and expenses, as well as providing a Nokia Lumia 1020 camera. Disclosure: http://cmp.ly/6/RC5QuG.

Simon Schnetzer founder and CEO of DATAJOCKEY [http;//twitter.com/datajockeys], a social research and dialogue company that brings statistics to life, gave a presentation [Is the Internet safe around here?] with statistics from a survey of Germans about Internet safety and life and will be fully presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Ages ranged from 14-34 and approximately 800 people participated in the study.

After the presentation, I asked Simon about LinkedIn’s lowering the age rate for entry. Although he doesn’t think teens will flock there, he mentioned a trend that accelerates aging. It’s true. Technology brings kids online at younger ages.

Themes in the study included;
What is my internet?
How are we forming opinions?
If many people have formed their opinions , how do they come together?

The first question they asked was: what was the very first thing you would miss if tomorrow there was no Internet?

How would you answer that question? If you’re like most study participants, the thing you would miss most is contact with friends.

The older the study participants get, the more they missed work.

Young people enjoy interacting with political themes. And, they definitely see the risk and dangers with the abuse of sharing data.

Internet usage is like sexuality; it’s starting way earlier. A twelve year old study participant wondered why his gaming heroes aren’t helping spread messages about Internet safety.

Friends influenced 92% of participants; TV was around 50%

What are the things that people are interacting with online?

A medical student wondered who cares about her writing

When asked about negative experiences, 67% of those under 20 had had negative experiences; 41% over 20 had also had negative experiences.

The study also explored the limits of tolerance and respect. Simon says tolerance is a transition to respect. Young people, like a 17 year old, are starting movements of their own. This young man was discriminated against in the U.S. because he was the German guy. When he moved back to Germany, he started a pro-tolerance group.

A question to consider: If we are not face to face are we acting different?
How you communicate online is changing the way you communicate offline.
Disabled people may feel freer online, but most people feel freer offline.

How about you?

What do you think? Is the internet safe around here?