The first activity that the youngest children engage in on the internet is watching film and video. Almost all (94%) in the ages of 2 to 3 who use the internet do this. Half (51%) try to play some type of game; entertaining, exciting, creative, educational and more. It is simple to start up an app on a tablet, it just needs to be pressed. The proportion of those who play increase with age, with up to 93% in the ages of 6-7 and well above 90 percent in adolescence. There is also the early possibility to create personal things on the internet, for example, drawing and painting, but this is not a widespread activity.
When children reach the ages of 6 to 7 and can start to read and write, the internet opens up with chat and possibilities to communicate with others, visit social networks, begin to search for information and facts, and use the internet for school work. However, gameplay and video viewing still occupy a large part of internet time well into the teen years.
For school children (8–9) games continue to dominate as well as watching videos. Communication via chat (25%), social networking (20%) and e-mail (20%) have not really gotten popular yet. More common is to use the internet to search for facts (62%), use the internet for school work (50%) and to create their own content (48%)
In the ages around 10–11 there is a leap into social networking and creating contacts on the internet. Two out of three (66%) chat and are now on social networks (63%). Meanwhile, about 80 percent of internet time is used to search for facts about school work and almost all play games and watch videos.
In the beginning of the teenage years (12–15) the internet’s social functions take up more of internet time, with the most using the internet also for information and entertainment. Almost all search for facts (82%), look up words (91%) and use the internet for school work (78%). The numbers who listen to music via the internet are even higher (92%), watching YouTube (99%), and being on social networks (93%). For teenagers, the internet is the most important source of both information and entertainment.
age | games | video | create your own content | chhat | social network | info/facts | school work |
2 yrs | 19% | 81% | 0% | | | | |
3 yrs | 26% | 69% | 5% | | | | |
4 yrs | 41% | 52% | 5% | | | 2% | |
5 yrs | 38% | 56% | 4% | | | 1% | |
6 yrs | 45% | 53% | 4% | | | 1% | |
7 yrs | 38% | 47% | 4% | 1% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
8 yrs | 39% | 31% | 7% | 7% | 4% | 8% | 4% |
9 yrs | 40% | 32% | 6% | 8% | 4% | 6% | 3% |
10 yrs | 30% | 24% | 7% | 14% | 9% | 8% | 7% |
11 yrs | 27% | 20% | 7% | 18% | 14% | 8% | 6% |
Diagram 7.12. Relationship between different internet activities in different ages up to 11 years. Show as table
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