This document discusses youth usage of information and communication technologies (ICT) such as mobile phones and the internet. It provides statistics on global ICT access and usage, and explores both the opportunities and challenges of ICT for youth development. The document also outlines a research study examining how ICT shapes identity formation and social relationships for youth in a Delhi resettlement colony. Key findings include very high mobile phone ownership among youth, the importance of ICT for socializing and entertainment, and differences in online versus offline behaviors. The document argues that ICT can empower youth but may also influence behaviors like increased pornography viewing. Overall, it analyzes the role of ICT in youth lives and communities.

1. YOUTH, ICT ANDTHE
VIRTUALWORLD
RUPALI AGARWAL (Commonwealth Scholar)
M.Phil. (Sociology) & MPH

2. ICT IN OUR LIVES
Year 1982
“You want to know the difference information and communication
technologies make? Try to live without them… .”
- International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Year 2006

3. MEANING OF ICT
• Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) is an umbrella term
that includes any means of storing,
retrieving, transferring or
communicating information digitally
(IGI Global Dictionary)

4. ICT: FACTS AND FIGURES
• Number of Mobile devices globally are 7.22 billion while the US Census Bureau
(2015) says the number of people on Earth is still somewhere 7.19 billion (2015)
• Globally 3.2 billion people are using the Internet of which 2 billion are from
developing countries
• Between 2000-2015, global Internet penetration grew 7 fold from 6.5% to 43%
• Mobile data traffic has grown 4,000-fold over the past 10 years and almost
400-million-fold over the past 15 years (ITU, 2015)
• Over 12 billion devices are connected to the Internet, and that number is
expected to increase to over 20 billion by 2020.

5. DIGITAL DIVIDE
• Half of the world’s population do not have mobile phones and 450 million
people still live out of reach of a mobile signal.
• By end 2015, 34% of households in developing countries have Internet access,
compared with more than 80% in developed countries
• Some 90 percent of population in low-income countries and over 60 percent
globally are not online yet.
• Globally, among 3.4 billion rural population only 29% has 3G broadband
whereas out of 4 billion urban population 89% have 3G broadband (ITU, 2015)
• In least developed countries (LDCs), only 7% of households have Internet
access, compared with the world average of 46%

6. DYSTOPIAN AND UTOPIANVIEWS ON ICT
DystopianView (1980 to 1990)
According to them, the new media were reducing, diminishing and even destroying
the quality of face-to-face communications and were making relationships at work
more formal (Kubicek, 1988).They would result in privacy reduction and total control
from above.
Utopian View (1990 to 2000)
According to utopian views, the new media substantially improving the quality of life
and of communication. A ‘new economy’ and a new era of prosperity, freedom and
online democracy was looming ahead.
Syntopian View (2000 onwards)
This is more balanced view on ICT based on facts, empirical investigations and learning
gained from past experience.

7. SOCIAL ASPECTS OF ICT
• Network society is a society whose social structure is
made up of networks powered by micro-electronics-
based information and communications technologies
• “Our societies are increasingly structured around a
bipolar opposition between the Net and the Self” ( By
Manuel Castells, 2000)
• Social structure of such societies is highly dynamic,
open system, susceptible to innovation and change.
• Those using more media tend to report no greater
relationship satisfaction and some even reported
decreasing satisfaction
• Cultural Diffusion to make homogeneous societies
• In contemporary world individual can have dual identity
• Miniature Mobility
Transforming ‘Mass Society’ into ‘Network Society’ or ‘Wired Society’

8. VIRTUAL WORLD
Virtual communities are associations of people
not bound to time, place and physical or
material circumstances. They are created in
electronic environments with the help of
mediated communications.
• Blurred public-private distinction
• Time- Space Distantiation: Expension and
Compression of time and space
• Generalization and a standardization of
social environments.
• Socialization of individual space.

9. YOUTH AS ‘DIGITAL NATIVE’
• Today’s generation is known as Digital Native, the Net Generation, Google generation
etc.
• Our students have changed radically.Today’s students are no longer the people our
educational system was designed to teach (Marc Prensky).
• Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are integral
parts of their lives.
• “Different kinds of experiences lead to different brain structures, “ says Dr. Bruce D.
Perry of Baylor College of Medicine.
• it is very likely that our students’ brains have physically changed
• They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite
• They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards.
• They like to parallel process and multi-task.

10. RESEARCH STUDY
ResearchTopic:Youth, ICT and theVirtualWorld: Sociological Study in a Resettlement Colony of
Delhi
Objective:
1. Examine the nature and extent of ICT usage by the youth.
2. Understand ICT as a tool in construction of identity by the youth.
3. Assess gender and age based segregated influence of ICT on youth in a resettlement colony.
4. Examine ICT as means of social inclusion/exclusion for the youth.
5. Explore the process of construction of virtual community through the ICT and the position of
youth in it.
• Research Methodology: Qualitative ResearchApproach
• Sample Size: 100Youth (15 to 29 years of age) ; 58 male and 42 female

11. FINDINGS…..
ICT USAGE BYYOUTH
0 15- 19 years 20-29 years
Total
Male Female Male Female
Total respondent 34 25 24 17 100
Mobile user 25 6 24 14 69
Non Mobile User 9 19 0 3 31
Smart Phone User 12 5 13 6 36
Mobile Internet User 25 5 15 9 54
Social Networking 31* 5 16* 5 57
Television without cable
connection
7 6 8 7 28
Television with cable connection 27 19 16 10 72

12. TRENDS IN ICT USAGE
• Internet on mobile phone is most popular among youth
• Each adolescent aspires to have android phone and is most sought about gift
among young youth
• Average age of getting mobile phone is 14-15 years among boys whereas for
girls it is 17-18 years
• Television is more popular among girls than boys
• Affordability of mobile phones in India and lower tariff plans has increased the
mobile phone use among youth
• Young male (15-19 years) spend average 5-6 hours a day and older male (20 to
29 years) spend 3-4 hours per day on mobile phone
• Young girls (15-19 years) spend average 3-4 hours a day and older female 1-2
hours per day on mobile phone

13. TIME SPENT IN WATCHINGTELEVISION
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Per day time in
watchingT.V.
Age
Boys
Girls

14. FINDINGS
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
To share opinion on public issues
To share image/video
To flirt
To know the status of friends
To make new friends
To stay in touch with friends
For entertainment
All my friends have accounts
Status symbol
Other
Motive for using social networking site
Male
Female

15. ICT & PEER CULTURE
• Gazettes as Status Symbol
• ICT usage helps in boosting Self-Confidence & autonomy
• ICT usage helps in creating self-image & personality development
• Facilitate developing love relationships at younger age ‘love online’
• ICT is more a means of entertainment and to remain connected with the peers
• ICT use increases the sense of power among male youth
• Pornography through mobile internet is very common among youth.The
average age of watching pornography among male is 14 years. Similar
behaviour is found among girls as well, however with increased age (16 to 19
years)
• There is trend to have unknown friends on Social networking sites like
Facebook, ‘Mobile initimacy’

16. ICT &VIRTUALWORLD
• Most of the social networking site users were found to have fake I. D.This is common
among both boys and girls
• Virtual world is more gender equal, boys and girls both found having similar behaviour
in virtual world than in physical world
• Youth has different self in virtual world than in real world
• This is more homogeneous in nature and having similar culture, similar language etc.
• Youth enjoy online chatting more with the unknown friends
• 92% male and 76% female ICT user accepted that the ICT has negatively affected
their relationship with parents
• Large number of friends on virtual world but with less emotional attachment
• Miniature mobility

17. ICT4D (ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT)
The new information and communication technologies are among the driving forces
of globalization.They are bringing people together…...
ICT4D (Information and CommunicationsTechnologies for Development) is an
initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide (the disparity between technological
"have" and "have not" geographic locations or demographic groups) and aiding
economic development by ensuring equitable access to up-to-date
communications technologies.
• The United Nations, through its UN Development Programme, actively
promotes ICT4D as a powerful tool for economic and social development
around the world.
• It is believed that more and better information and communication furthers the
development of a society.

18. ICT & SDGs
• GDP could be boosted by 12% in
developing countries if broadband
penetration reached 80% in 2030, up
from 44.5% in 2014
• By catalyzing SDG achievement, the ICT
sector could potentially earn up to USD
2.1 trillion in revenue by 2030
• Carbon emissions could be reduced by
12% from ‘business as usual’ scenario by
implementing digital solutions
• Road traffic accidents could be reduced
by 60% through smart mobility
Youth is not only the future, youth is also the present, and the most powerful
weapon to build a better world by 2030 (UN)

19. References
• IGI Global Disseminator of Knowledge (n.d.) Dictionary, Information and Communication
Technology.Available from: http://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/information-and-
communication-technology-ict/14316 (Accessed on 1 May 2016)
• Prensky, Marc (2001), Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1, On the Horizon; 2001,Vol.
9 Issue 5, p1-6, 6p
• Van Dijk, J. (1999) The Network Society: Social Aspects of New Media (trans. L.
Spoorenberg). London: Sage
• Kubicek, H. (1988) ‘Telematische Integration:Zurück in die Sozialstructuren des Früh-
Kapitalismus?’, inW. Steinmüller (ed.),Verdatet undVernetzt Sozialökologische
Handlungsspielraüme in der Informationsgesellschaft. Frankfurt: Fischer. pp. 17–42.
• ITU (2015) ICT: Facts and Figures, ICT Data and Statistics Division, International
Telecommunication Union.