What are the differences and similarities in social media usage and lifestyle between Hong Kong teens studying at local and international schools? We've interviewed two groups of teens at the age of 17 to see how they use social media and live.

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@17
Teens’socialmediausageandlifestyle
What are the differences and similarities between
teens studying at local and international schools?
August 2016

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Popular apps
Local
International/
Overseas
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Most used apps for communication
● No longer for personal updates; instead for sharing
news, articles, videos, posts, etc.
● Text message
● Send GIFs, files, and play mini games
● “My Story” (public)
● Message (private)
● Text message
● WhatsApp call
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Snapchat vs Instagram
“Now you see it, now you don’t” Popularised the use of #hashtags
Filters and photo editingSelfie “Lenses” (face effects)
Allows user to add captions, stickers
and drawings to photo
Has additional apps to edit
photos/videos (Boomerang and Layout)
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Why is snapchat overtaking instagram?
Younger audience and celebrity culture; gain intimate insight into “Hollywood”
lifestyle
Snapchat’s Selfie “Lenses” allow teens to show their “silly” side and embrace
humour, contrasting the seriousness of Instagram
Snapchat has more subtle ads that majority of teens don’t realise, unlike Instagram.
Instagram’s constant stream of ads and non-chronological photo feeds have also
dampened the majority of teen users’ enthusiasm
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Most engaging content
Articles, quizzes
(e.g. Buzzfeed)
Friends’ snaps
YouTube videos
(e.g. vlogs) Comedy/humour
Food/cookery/DIY
Fashion/fitness
Music
Celebrity content
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Preferred content format
Video: more attractive; capture attention more.
360o
video/photo: people don’t have much attention
for moving their phone or scrolling
PhotoVideo 360o
video/photo
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Teens are following...
Politicians
International/Overseas
Athletes
Both Local
Actors Reality TV stars Musicians Authors
● Celebrities endorse different products, so brand accounts are now not
followed as much
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Favourite content from KOLs
OOTD
Personal photos or
“squad photos”
“Outfit of the day”
(clothing and fashion
photos)
Inspirational or motivational
content
Life
updates
Movie trailers/sneak
peeks
Funny content
Articles and
interviews
Videos (e.g. MVs)
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LEAST favourite content
Gossipy tabloid articlesSpam/troll posts
Ads or clickbait
● Mandatory video ads on YouTube
● Pop up ads on websites
Bloody/gory content
(Reaction: Ignore > hide > block)
Hate speech, extreme
political opinion
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Sources of news
Local
International/
Overseas
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Favourite fashion brands
Local and overseas fashion brand choices are similar
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Leisure
Listen to music
Play video/mobile
games
Read
Watch YouTube
videosHang out with
friends
Do DIY
projects
Exercise
Sleep or
nap
Watch
movies
Cook and
bake
Eat!
Shop
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Popular events
LocalInternational/Overseas Both
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15. Top cultural influences
Local TeensInternational/
Overseas Teens
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Top spending
Food Shopping Transport Technology
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Most used payment methods
Cash is the most used method of payment amongst teens
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Appendixes
Up-and-coming apps:
ASKfm: An anonymous social Q&A website, where the more likes
people get, the more popular they are.
GroupMe: A group text messaging app for phones that can share
photos, videos, personalized emojis, locations, create events etc.
Buzzfeed: An entertainment social media site that has different
categories (e.g. news, videos, quizzes, food) and tags (e.g. LOL, win,
omg, cute)
Musical.ly: An app to create “instant music videos”. Users lip sync
to songs and can share their creations
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Know more about us:
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Thanks to our Summer Interns: Sonia, Hillary and
Amelie, and their friends and schoolmates
HillarySonia Amelie
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Friends and schoolmates