[Nuernberg, GERMANY] Around 17 percent of German online users are between the ages of 10 and 19.
This young target group is particularly interested in using the Internet as a
means of communication. In October 2000, there was an above-average number
of visits by young surfers to messenger applications, online communities, and
entertainment and gaming sites, as well as to sites about school and
education. Services related to mobile phones are considered especially trendy amongst
teens, as the latest results in the monthly Digital Media Report from MMXI
Europe, a Jupiter MMXI company, have shown.
The trend towards owning a personal mobile phone can be seen in the online
user behavior of young people. Internet services for mobile phoning are used
twice as much by teens as they are by average users. In October, one out of three
young surfers (35.3 percent) used a Web site with services for mobile phones or a
Web site to send short messages at least once. Online messengers, which are
available as applications on the Web and which tell users which other
registered users are online at the same time, are also very popular amongst youngsters.
Almost one out of every four youths aged 10 to 19 used messaging services
such as ICQ or AOL Instant Messenger in October. Teens used messenger services
around 10 days a month, which is considerably higher than the average of 8
days. The average length of use in minutes in October totaled 160 minutes,
which means that each teen spent an average of 15 minutes per day of use
using this type of online communication. Additionally, the hit list of sites with
the highest percentage of users between the ages of 10 and 19 shows that teens
are spending more and more time at gaming sites.
“In general, it seems that teenagers want to use the Internet for fun and
communication,” says Thomas Pauschert, managing director of MMXI Germany.
“Mobile phones with pre-paid cards are widespread amongst this group. It’s
clear then that young surfers will make use of the opportunities on the
Internet to send free short messages. Every third teen uses SMS offers on the Web,
and nearly every fourth teen communicates with other surfers using messenger
services. There is considerable potential here for branding and winning
loyal customers on the Internet.”
