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Chennai, February 6, 2016: Young India is growing up immersed in advanced technology. The TCS Youth Survey is one of the largest studies in the country that captures the Digital habits of children between the age group of 12-18 years. Generation Z (Gen Z) is defined as the group born after 1995 – the current youth generation. Below are some of the technology-related survey results from Chennai.
1. Tech toys get cooler
While Smart Phones (23%) and desktop/Laptops (16%) are still considered the most important gadgets amongst Chennai GenZ, latest technology gadgets like Smart Watches (14%), Gaming Consoles (13%) & VR headset (12%) show high future purchase intention amongst Chennai GenZ.
2. Mediums change, hobbies don’t
Continuing their love for games, technology savvy boys opt for gaming consoles (14%) as the most preferred gadget that they would like to buy. On the other hand, girls in Chennai opted for eBook readers (15%) as the gadget that they would like to buy.
3. Constantly Connected
70% students primarily use internet at home through fixed line/Wi-Fi followed by 58% of them using internet through 3G/4G connection on their smartphones. This is an interesting trend observed where mobile internet access is quickly catching up with fixed line internet access. This is due to the increasing need to be connected wherever one is.
4. Responsible generation
Parents and teachers can now relax as 68% of the respondents use internet for completing school assignments. This was followed by instant messaging (64%) and playing / downloading games at (60%).
5. Chennai City gamers
A lot of the web content is consumed through a wide range of apps available for various purposes. Gaming apps were found to be the most popular (68%) amongst Chennai teens, followed by Instant messaging apps (64%) and Entertainment apps (56%). Educational apps (46%) and Shopping apps (38%) are emerging as the next most popular app choices among the students in the city.
6. Facebook rules
While Chennai teens were found to be simultaneously active on multiple social media platforms, Facebook clearly rules (42%) continuing as the most popular social media followed by distant Google Plus (14%). Other popular platforms are Instagram (8%), Twitter (8%), Quora (6%) and Snapchat (3%) slowly gaining popularity.
7. Insta-famous
The younger generations now look at different social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. to worship their idols. Chennai teens follow sports stars (52%) on social media, followed by film personalities (51%). Another interesting trend observed was Youtube celebrities / channels being closely followed by (34%) of the respondents.
8. Virtual Strangers
Social media being an important medium for interaction amongst the youth today, there is no surprise in the fact that these sites also play an important role in maintaining friendships. The surprising fact is that Family/relatives (10%) are at the bottom when it comes to maintaining friendships on social media even below Strangers (17%). 30% of the teenagers in Chennai have made more than 100 friends through social media sites.
9. This is temporary, we will be back
While almost half of the parents monitor the social activities of the kids, 2/3rd of them have deleted / deactivated their profiles on social media while those who have deleted it, have found “it is waste of time” (22%), done so under ‘parents decision’ (12%) or found it Irrelevant (7%).
10. Chennai, Hub of IT Talent
Students are highly influenced by IT Tycoons like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, Sunder Pichai, etc. probably that is getting attributed into their dream job mainly Software Engineer.
Suresh Raman, Head of TCS Chennai Operations says, “Digital Technology is redefining the way young India connects, pursues hobbies and accesses information through smart gadgets and apps. The TCS annual survey of students across the country provides glimpses of tech habits & preferences of tomorrow’s professionals. Our survey reveals that Generation Z of Chennai adopts the newer digital technologies with ease and is hyper-connected digitally. During many events such as floods or cyclone, Chennai Gen Z has displayed its digital mastery beyond personal & official purposes, leveraging digital medium for connecting to a larger population for social causes. Hence, I’m not surprised that the Gen Z of Chennai wants the city to continue as “the IT hub” with their aspirations for an IT career.
About TCS GenZ Survey
TCS GenZ Survey 2016-17 was undertaken during the TCS IT Wiz program, to get a pulse of the digital habits of school students from class 8-12. The survey aims to capture the changing trends of the youth across the Nation with a focus on technology. The objective was to comprehend and compare the digital habits of school students in major and mini metros of India. The TCS GenZ Survey 2016-17 is one of the most comprehensive school level studies of this scale, in India, to capture information access trends, social networking preferences, career interests etc.
About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS)
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