Friends key to ‘post-digital’ youth: report

Lee Jae-yeon, a 13-year-old middle schooler in Seoul, listens to music on her MP3 player between classes and likes to take pictures of herself with her camera phone. She regularly uploads the photos to her Web site with the Cyworld service, and spends a lot of time at home on the Internet, posting comments on her friends’ Web sites. On her way to and from school, she sends text messages filled with emoticons. “I feel like I’m with my friends all day, whether it’s at school or on the Internet or phone,” she says. Ms. Lee is part of Korea’s post-digital generation, one that has grown up in a totally digital environment. According to Cheil Communications, a market research and advertising firm, this generation is made up of people 13 to 24 years old who express emotions through digital devices and media. In a report based on interviews with 800 people in Seoul ages 13 to 49, Cheil said the post-digital generation differs from the digital generation in that its members, while relying heavily on machines in everyday life, tend to use them not to detach from society but to interact more, especially on the Internet. They buy digital products not for their own pleasure but to communicate with others. Cheil said members of the post-digital generation are more positive than their elders, such as “yuppies” (young urban professionals) or “duppies” (depressed urban professionals). They are less individualistic and think more about relationships. “The post-digital generation places importance on analog values, but its human relationships are horizontal, not vertical,” said Lee Ju-hyeon, a Cheil researcher. The post-digital generation also places more significance on visuals and are quick to learn new technology. They like to be on the forefront of trends, but are shrewd shoppers, comparing prices and looking for discounts. “This generation will be the main consumers in five to 10 years,” said Lee Jeong-eun, a Cheil official. “Companies have to get to know its characteristics.” by Wohn Dong-hee