Report: 30 million of Indonesia’s internet users are teenagers

Credit: Anton.Nawalapatra.com

UNICEF, alongside Indonesia’s ICT ministry, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and Harvard University all worked together in conducting a nationwide survey about Indonesian teens’ internet usage and behavior. The study shows that there are at least 30 million teenagers in Indonesia who regularly access the internet. If Indonesia’s has a total of about 75 million web users, almost half of them are still in their teenage years.

The study looked at 400 respondents between the ages of 10 to 19 spread all over Indonesia. Here are some of the key findings:

• Most of Indonesia’s 30 million teen internet users reside in urban areas like Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Banten. About 87 percent of teens who live in rural areas (with a higher poverty level) like North Maluku and West Papua have never accessed the web.
• 79.5 percent of all teen respondents are internet users, and most of them have accessed the digital world for more than one year. Half of these people say that they first learned about the internet from their friends.
• When it comes to devices used to go online, 69 percent of respondents use computers, 34 percent use laptops, 52 percent use “handphones” (the report says), 21 percent use smartphones, and four percent use tablets. Most PCs are used at schools and internet cafes while laptops are mostly used at home.
• Of those who can’t access the web, most say the reason is their parents forbid them using it.
• Three biggest drivers for teenagers to access the internet? Seeking information (mainly for school work), to connect with new and old friends, and for entertainment purposes.
• A significant number of teens have been exposed to vulgar content through ads.
• Most parents in Indonesia do not supervise their children’s online activities.

You can find more information about the study results here (in Indonesian).

(Via Kompas)

(Editing by Steven Millward)