Youth, Media & Technology: Bruno – my experience
Bruno, a 19 year old student and a panellist at MediaTel’s Youth, Media and Technology event, gives his views about what was discussed…
This is the second time I have been asked to be on the YMT panel and much has changed in my life since the previous event. I have now moved on from my life as a sixth former in order to start my first year as a student at the University of Manchester and my habits and consumption of media has altered.
I had good company with four other panellists – Sammy, Jamie, Ashika and Ella – and once again, Torin Douglas ensured the smooth running of the event and encouraged all of us to contribute as much as we could.
It surprises me what sort of information the audience is interested in as it seems to be just my regular life. Nevertheless we all had plenty to say and answered questions from the audience on newspapers, radio and advertising. We also went on to discuss what technology we couldn’t live without, our favourite ways of watching TV, whether we notice adverts or simply ignore them and what is our favourite advert (we all agreed on The Guardian‘s Three Pigs ad – even though we struggled to decipher the true meaning of it).
Similar trends kept appearing in our answers to the dismay of some in the audience and the message was pretty straight forward – we don’t like adverts and we want everything for free or at huge discounts, whilst being built around our on-the-go lifestyle.
Eventually the panel admitted that certain type of adverts catch our eye more than others. We enjoy interactive ads, such as the current Cadbury’s cream egg Olympic style game, as well as the Skittles ad on TV – but even more so the Skittles ad on You Tube, where you are made to put your index finger on the screen of your computer and watch a scene unfold around your finger.
Another standout ad is the Cadbury’s one involving two children moving their eyebrows in sync to music. Despite the ads not having much (if anything) in common with the actual products, we were quick to identify which brand was connected with which advert. Sammy even admitted (and proved) that she knew exactly what E4 programme was sponsored by which brand.
Live TV is a thing of the past, according to the youth panel. The majority of our television viewing is now done online through on-demand services on our laptop/computer and in the case of Jamie, through his Xbox. We don’t want to plan our lives around the TV schedule – so instead, we want content to be available when we want it.
Ads on catch-up TV are easily ignored and skipped and recorded TV is now a big part of how we watch what we want. Ella has a subscription for BT Vision in her house and is able to enjoy 50 free films a month whenever she wants, along with whole series to watch on-demand. Ella said that she prefers this method of watching her favourite programmes as she often forgets to watch shows as they are shown live on TV.
When I was living at home I was a big fan of Sky+ – I would series link my favourite programmes. The only noticeable exception to this was (and still is) watching live sports as I want to know what the score is of my team straight away – and I like the thrill of watching live sport.
Facebook still remains an integral aspect of our teenage lives. Most of us admitted that we will usually have Facebook on even if it’s in the background – or on our phones when watching TV, or using our computer/laptop. We don’t like clunky adverts getting in the way of Facebook. I can’t imagine how I would organise a social event, whether it is a party or simply meeting up with a large group of friends to play football, without the help of Facebook. My social calendar is now on Facebook and without it I would be excluded from many events.
None of the panellists are regular Twitter users, even though a few of us have an account. I use Twitter occasionally to follow people I am interested in, rather than to tweet an every-second update of my life. In terms of Facebook, it is a platform to express our interests, likes and photos while also socialising with our friends.