New Media and Peru's Youth and Young Adults

The 42 percent of Peruvians between 15 and 29 (here defined as youth/young adults) are frequent and enthusiastic users of newer information and communication technologies (ICTs). Their level of access to various ICTs is mostly comparable to that of other age groups, though they show slight leads in access to mobile phones, computers and MP3s(see chart 1 below).

Chart 1: Access

Chart 2: Media Use

Although use of traditional media such as television, newspaper and radio use is fairly comparable across all ages, youth and young adults (Y/YAs) in urban Peru are more likely to use mobile phones and the internet than the general population.

Higher internet use among Y/YA can also reflects the impact of cheap internet cafés in Peru known as cabinas publicas, which have made the web more accessible to the urban Y/YA. Eight percent of the urban Y/YAs have accessed the internet using these cabinas(see chart 3). Another popular access point for Y/YA is their school or university (38 percent).

Chart 3

Urban Y/YAs conduct most types of online activity more frequently and more intensively than the general population, as seen in Chart 4.

Chart 4

Y/YAs are also most likely to access social networking webites, although blogging is equally common for overall population as well (chart 5).

Chart 5

Of those respondents who had visited social networking websites in the previous month, the urban Y/YAs were most likely to use it for sharing photos or videos as well as commenting on someone else’s status.

Chart 6

Sixty one percent of those who used blogs in the previous month had accessed sites featuring entertainment related discussions. Technology was another popular topic, but the Y/YAs did not seem as interested in news or political blogs as did the overall population.

Chart 7

Mobile Phone Activities

Eighty nine percent of urban Y/YAs said they have household access to a mobile phone, while 84 percent said they used it in the previous month. Chart 8 and 9 show the mobile phone activities of Y/YAs compared to the general population, illustrating that Y/YAs are more likely to take pictures and share them, listen to music and play games.  

Chart 9

In addition, when it comes to accessing other media such as the internet and radio, the Y/YAs seem to be well ahead again.

Chart 10

News and Information Sources

The urban Y/YAs are also prolific consumers of news and information and use a variety of methods to access it (chart 10). Television is still their most important source of news, with 98 percent of Y/YA respondents saying they use it at least once a week for news, followed by radio and newspapers. But they are also more likely than the overall population to use internet and SMS to access news and information.

Chart 11