Teenagers in mini-metros such as Lucknow, Indore and Kochi, among others, use social networking sites more than their counterparts in major metros, according to a survey conducted by Tata Consultancy Services.
While Facebook continues to be most preferred social networking site, Google+ has made some inroads, the TCS Gen-Y 2013-14 survey said. Facebook is the most preferred social networking site for an average of 76 per cent of youth across India, it noted.
Twitter is among the least preferred networking sites due to its complexity in terms of usage. “Twitter seems less favourable than Facebook. More than 18 per cent of respondents claim they have less than 40 people they are following in their Twitter account,” it said. The survey carried covered 18,196 high school students in 14 cities.
Notably, young Mumbaikars prefer face-to-face communication over other mode of communication. About 30 per cent agreed that while they are active on social media, they miss human interaction.
Eighty-seven per cent of high school students see social media as a medium to remain updated on current affairs and, hence, the strong rise in usage, the survey explained. “Such surveys help us understand the consumption behaviour among the youth and gauge the interest of the youth today in technology usage,” said Ajoy Mukherjee, executive vice-president and global head of human resources at TCS.
The survey also highlighted that the youth are increasingly choosing smartphones over tablets and personal computers, mainly because of easy and quick accessibility to the Internet. However, tablets are emerging as popular as a mobile devices both in metros and mini-metros.
Among smartphones, Samsung is clearly the market leader with 60 per cent marketshare followed by Apple whose rise is mainly in the metros. Sony is seen reclaiming its market presence, while Micromax is a new entrant with a share of just about 22 per cent, the survey noted.
The findings also peeked into the career interest of the youth, which showed that while IT and engineering continue to be a clear career preference, interest in media-and-entertainment segment is gaining pace.
