Mzansi teens more socially connected than global peers

A study recently conducted by VIMN Africa and Global Consumer Insights sheds light on the important role played by South African youth in the country’s politically charged history, from the 1976 Soweto Uprisings to 2015’s #FeesMustFall protests.

The study formed part of Viacom’s global youth research project, My Teen Life, where 5 200 teenagers across 32 countries were interviewed about everything from online bullying and how they relate to their parents, to how they approach life in the digital age. As one of the countries included in the study, South African teenagers (ages 12–17) were engaged online to reflect the online voice of the country’s youth.

“It is our mandate to provide content that extends beyond entertainment formats as echoed by this youth study. Today’s youth continue to grapple a number of socio-economic challenges, they are opinionated and unapologetic, they are more than ready to honour the sacrifices of their counterparts from 1976, their voices matter and have an important role in shaping South Africa’s future,” Monde Twala, vice president for youth, music and BET at Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa), said.

Teenagers still face the same age-old pressures, but also a host of new ones with the proliferation of digital platforms. Results showed that 68 per cent of local teens admitted they were concerned about their appearance, while 66 per cent worried about being excluded by their peers.

When it comes to social media, South African teens said they use social platforms 55 times a day, which is an indication not just on the integration of social media into their lives, but the likely pressure it places on them. In addition to this, 68 per cent of local teens (versus 61 per cent of global teens) reported that they felt pressured to respond to a message within 30 minutes of receiving it.  This 68 per cent also shared that they felt an increased pressure to respond immediately on platforms such as Snapchat and WhatsApp.

With the added dimension of digital interaction, a growing concern is that South African teens report a high rate of bullying in real life at 54 per cent (higher than the global average of 42 per cent) and online at 17 per cent. With the high propensity of social pressures and engagement online, it can be a lot harder for local teens to escape harassment.

South African adolescents believe in the power of the Internet, more so than public institutions. This generation has never known a world without YouTube, Snapchat or Instagram, and this is reflected by the fact that the results showed 65 per cent of South African teens believe that the Internet is more powerful than any government. This was reinforced by the recent election survey conducted by MTV Base, which discovered that 64 per cent of South African youth described politics as being ‘corrupt’.

Results also showed that SA teens are far more likely to share something funny online as soon as they find it – 83 per cent versus the global average of 73 per cent. This trend could be indicative of a form of comic relief therapy stemming from living in a tense or uncertain political climate.

South African teens lean towards entrepreneurship, are increasingly empathetic and willing to take risks and fail to learn. A large majority of those polled locally described themselves as ‘entrepreneurial’ at 85 per cent, compared to a global score of 67 per cent. This could, in part, be due to the fact that the current youth unemployment rate in South Africa is at 55.2 per cent according to Stats South Africa 2019 Q1 Results for ages 15–24.

South African teens are also more concerned than their global peers about living up to their potential, at 74 per cent versus 61 per cent internationally. This generation believes in trying and making mistakes, rather than not trying at all, with 93 per cent of respondents viewing this as a good thing.