Survey highlights difficulties of generational technology gap

By Dominic Jones, IR Web Report

As surveys or studies go, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Touchpoints survey of 5,010 people in the UK is one of the more interesting I've read recently.

It looks at the role of technology and media in life today among a sample of the population. Participants completed a questionnaire and kept a PDA-based time usage diary.

The PDA diary asked participants to record their activities every half-hour for a week. Questions asked included things like where they were, who they were with and what their main activity was. Oh, yes, also perhaps "how happy / sad they felt."

The research shows that the younger generation is hyper-wired with technology, while older users are less consumed by it. But all generations share a love for TV, spending more time in front of it than other media, including the Internet.

Some of the highlights for me in this study include:

• Only 13% of all written communication is now using pen and paper; 49% is via email, 29% via SMS text, 10% via Internet Instant Messaging.
• 39% of written communication by adults aged over 65 is on paper; for 15-24 years olds it is only 5%, with 48% using SMS, 28% email and 20% Internet Instant Messaging.
• TV remains the lead medium for the majority of adults - this is true for all age groups and is irrespective of Internet access. Between Monday and Friday adults spend the following hours on various media: 3.9 television, 1.3 hours radio and 0.8 Internet. On Saturday and Sunday this changes to: 4.5 television, 1.5 radio and 1.0 Internet.
• While texting, 32% of 15-24 year olds are also watching TV, 18% are also listening to the radio, 10% are also browsing the Internet and 6% are also reading.
• 70% of 15-24 year olds say they 'could not live' without a mobile phone.
• 27% of users of games consoles also read a daily newspaper.

I read somewhere that this study cost £1m and was backed by the BBC, ITV and newspaper groups. It's worth every penny.

This kind of insight can help public policy makers -- like securities regulators -- make better decisions about how to incorporate the Internet into a disclosure and consumer protection system.

It helps them to understand who they are working for and what their realities are. We saw real-life evidence of the "generation gap" in technology use recently in the many comments and submissions on the SEC's proposed rule for electronic annual meeting materials.

Studies and comments showed clearly that many -- especially elderly users -- are not prepared for online-only communication. Meanwhile, a younger generation of technology super users is emerging.

They're thumbing messages while watching television next to the newspaper on the Xbox console. They ignore all extraneous messages, including about half of all advertising.

How do you communicate a forward-looking statement disclaimer to someone like that?

That's right, you don't.

Disclaimers are for lawyers, not for real people.

You have three minutes to tell your story. If you can't, you fail. Game over.

This is the new reality for securities regulators -- and for investor relations communications professionals.