Estonian Youths' Attitudes towards the Digital Environment

Gothenburg.
The first speaker in the next session at AoIR 2010 is Andra Siibak, whose interest is in the online practices of Estonian youths. The latest generation of users is often described as having a set of particular characteristics (independence, innovation, creativity, authority, control), but to what extent is this actually true? In Estonia, there certainly is a digital generation – 99.9% of 11-18-year-olds are using the Internet, many of them daily, but what are their characteristics, and how do they see themselves?

This study examined school essays by 16- and 17-year-olds on the topic of the digital generation, as well as surveys of 15-19-year-olds. Overall activities were divided into serious and fun activities, with their attendant motives (necessity, obligation, conscientiousness vs. free will). Users 15-19 were the most active age groups, compared to older Estonians; they also stated that they could not imagine living in a society without modern technology. They felt disconnected without such technology, and relied on multiple technologies for access.

Users 15-19 were mainly using the Net for ‘fun stuff’, while older users were more focussed on serious activities. They also saw the Net as an educational medium, however (using it for homework, for example), and see themselves as different from older generations in this – who are seen to have used older media to build their knowledge. Technology is also connected positively with social changes, life satisfaction, and trust in state, media, and civic institutions.

A key factor in this is convenience: this was a key theme in the essays, especially. Technology makes life easier and saves time (allowing more time for fun pursuits). However, the idea of a digital generation received mixed responses – youths see the generations following them as more digital than themselves, and describe themselves as a more transitional generation; one boy described his generation as a more of a ‘shopping and chill-out generation’, because a full appreciation of new technologies was still missing, for example.

Young users usage is distinctive in terms of heavy use and fun pursuits; there is a casual attitude to technology here. Serious use, where it takes place, is driven by mindfulness and conscientiousness, but the overall generation is a convenience generation rather than one which has a full understanding of digital technologies. Bridging this gap between serious and fun uses is a societal challenge, but their is great potential here, especially if the self-conceptualisation of younger users is taken into account and addressed.