One In Five Teen Boys Uploads Web Video

by Gavin O'Malley, Dec 20, 2007, 7:00 AM

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From car races to comedy skits, Web videos are now twice as likely to be uploaded by boys than girls, according to the latest findings from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

As of late last year, 19% of teen boys reported uploading content to video-sharing sites like YouTube and other online venues, while just 10% of teen girls admitted to engaging in this pastime. That finding surprised researchers because teen girls are more active users of other social media like blogs and photo-sharing sites.

"Girls appeared to own the field across the board the last time we did this study in 2004," said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "That's why the video findings were different than what we expected."

Released on Wednesday, this latest Pew study was based on over 900 phone interviews of 12- to-17-year-olds.

Not even older girls--a highly wired and active segment of the population, according to Pew--could compete with boys in this area, as 21% of older boys posted videos compared to 10% of older girls.

This trend is relevant for many marketers exploring consumer-generated-media initiatives to engage consumers, and even save on their production budgets. A number of top brands, from Doritos to Heinz, have invited consumers to create their ads over the past year.

Overall, from poetry to pictures, a full 39% of teens reported sharing their own artistic creations online by late last year, according to Pew. That's up from 33% in 2004.

"All our data is suggesting a significant increase in online sharing," said Lenhart. "What's interesting, too, is how teens are using their creations as an opportunity to connect and communicate with other teens."

Of particular note for marketers, many teens who create and share content live in affluent households. Thirty-eight percent of those teens live in a household with an income above $75,000, compared to 21% in households earning $30,000-$49,999 and 19% in households earning $50,000-$74,999. Just 13% of teens living in homes with incomes below $30,000 were creating and sharing content online by late last year.

In the area of blogging, girls continue to surpass boys. Indeed, 35% of all online teen girls were blogging as of late last year, compared with 20% of online teen boys.

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