YouTube is their favorite social network

Aug 24, 2015 08:36 GMT  ·  By

A study carried out on 684 millennial teens in June this year by Refuel Agency shows that today's youngsters prefer smartphones over PCs, Apple over Google, and YouTube over Netflix.

The study aimed to shed some light on the ordinary, day-to-day life of young teens, probing survey takers on matters like digital and social media usage, favorite technologies, brand loyalty, mobile apps, income sources, purchase behavior, digital advertising, and media perceptions.

Let's be honest, we all expected teenagers to say they cannot live without their (smart)phones, the study revealing that millennials prefer them to computers, laptops, video game consoles, and TVs, all symbols of "old people" technologies.

Survey takers have said they spend around 6.3 hours a day on their phones, followed by only 3.5 hours on their computers and another 3.5 hours watching TV.

Teens nowadays spend a lot of time on their phones, and they even do it at school, 66% of the survey participants saying they do send texts during school days, 55% of them spending their time on social media and 51% playing mobile games.

Apple and other four smartphone makers are the favorite brands of millennials

As far as their favorite brand is concerned, Apple ranked #1, followed by Samsung, Google, Microsoft, Sony, YouTube, Netflix, Nintendo, Amazon, and Facebook.

As you can see, all the top 5 brands, coincidentally or not, make and sell smartphones.

Apple, and especially its iPhone, has always curried favor with teens, so this study shows that even if put under a heavy assault from other smartphone builders, the iPhone is still hanging strong, even if many have predicted its downfall after Steve Jobs' passing.

Millennials are willing to try out new browsers

According to the study, young teens are also very willing to try out new technologies, two out of three millennials being willing to test new browsers if they come out and are available.

Additionally, they also put a focus on security (70%) and privacy (68%) when evaluating a browser, caring less about page load speeds (54%), customization features (37%), or social integration (21%).

When it comes to watching online streams, YouTube is a clear-cut winner with 75%, followed by Netflix with 55%. Surprisingly, services like Twitch or SoundCloud didn't even make it past 2%.

As another study that targeted young teens also showed, YouTube was and continues to be their favorite social network (64%), followed by Facebook (51%), Instagram (45%), Snapchat (42%), and Twitter (28%).

More details can be found in the full study, which can be downloaded from Refuel Agency's website after giving away your email address, but a short summarized infographic can also be viewed below.

Top technology and social trends amongst millennials
Top technology and social trends amongst millennials