The generation biasness and perception of being “lonely”

The survey commissioned by Yours magazine (the study included people aged between 18 and 80) stated that over a third of people spend more time chatting online than going out with friends. Sixty percent of those surveyed said they found it difficult to make friends 'in real life' compared with online and a similar number (69 per cent) said they believe that Britain is an unfriendly place to live. Youngsters are turning 'skin hungry' as networking online leaves them feeling as lonely as the elderly, a study has found. Having an average of 243 Facebook friends, teenagers are spending so much time on the internet that they have little time to move out with friends. This report was widely published in india (covered by The Hindu. Deccan Chronicle, Asian Age etc.) and as usual the “gray hairs” (midnight’s children, as named by Sashi Tharoor) enjoyed it as the “declining social behaviour” of youth in India.

The online- offline war has reached in a level where we tend to feel a perverted fulfilment by proving the “online” behaviour is actually making us “unsocial”. We decline to accept that online is also a parallel society which has its own benefit and system. The online life of youth is grooming them well into various fields; right from personal styling, learning English / communication skills, presentation skills and knowledge. At SNS like facebook or blogs, the GEN next learns the skill to write on the wall, pursue the opposite sex into friendship (online), share knowledge, build community, be fashionable (and load photos in the album), learn new skills (through the how to videos) etc. Even, the online activity makes an introvert more of a “smart kid”. This boosts the confidence level of an individual.
The parallel society is not only relevant when one wants to widen his/ her friendship circle without being pestered much about the security factor of adding an “unknown” but also the knowledge sharing possibilities are immense.
Today, the youth are omnipresent in both the societies (online , offline). They are aware of what best they can get from both. Otherwise, the overwhelming crowd in malls, parks, pubs and concerts will not consist of 80% population below 30. Neither they are "isolated" from their peergroup nor they feels lonely. It's the other generation who makes them feel lonely and insist them to accept it! The report quoted the so called relationship expert Julie Peasgood who says "instead of breaking down society's barriers, technology has made us more isolated and it is affecting young people". Its totally opposit to what the youth thinks about their social presence, online. The offline society no more attaracts them cause they are too limited in knowledge and domintae by the other two generations in India.

The places to hangout might have changed but the mentality to hangout remains same and the physical presence should not be considered as the only factor of being “social”!

internet usage

There are no surprises that youth in India is getting hooked on to Internet – The older generation is not and are still staying away from it.

School & College students itself contribute to more than 44% of all Internet usage that happens in India – Overall 72% of young people access Internet on regular basis

moreover, small towns contributed to only 5% of internet usage in year 2000, which over a period of 9 years has grown to healthy 36% and for the first time has overtaken the Internet usage in Urban areas !

Image Source:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/in.htm
Information source:
http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/04/07/internet-usage-india-report-2010/

internet is giving power to people in India to make a scam free country

While the CWG scam, Adarsh Building scam and 2G scam (and many more yet to come!) are still hot in news along with Mr. Tata's comment on bribing, this report shows how internet is giving power to people in a corruption driven country like India. Even, to book the train ticket or to get the passport done used to be through touts (and big bribes were involved, in this porcess) which, now, partially can be avoided through e-booking...this exactly shows why most of the politicians in India are opposing the computerization and e-movement and appearing unaware of many implimentations
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In Gujarat, e-literate paanwala googles NREGS, stumbles on Rs 1-crore scam

A newly e-literate village paanwala's (small shop owner) obsession with Google has blown the lid off a unique NREGS scam in Porbandar. The motley bunch of beneficiaries include affluent NRIs, doctors, government officials, teachers and well-off farmers — all shown as unemployed village labourers holding NREGS job cards. So far, the money siphoned off comes to nearly Rs 1 crore.

On paper, there are 963 NREGS job cardholders at Kotda village in Kutiyana taluka of Porbandar district. Records show they have been paid over Rs 95 lakh for their 'labour' over the past three years. In reality though, none of them have ever dug wells or built roads in their lives or actually received any money for the same under NREGS or otherwise.

The scam came to light after Aslam Khokhar (37), a Class X dropout and a paan shop owner in Kutiyana learnt how to use computers and searched NREGS on Google. "I was thrilled to find every detail of NREGS work in our area on the website. But I then came across the job card of a friend, who is a government employee.

I searched and found there are doctors, teachers and NRIs I personally know in the village, listed as 'labourers' on the site," said Khokar.

Veja Modedara, an independent councillor at Kutiyana taluka panchayat, and Congress worker like Bhanukant Odedara soon joined hands with Khokhar. The trio conducted door-to-door meetings with villagers named in the website and found they had neither worked on any NREGS site nor received any wages.

Several like Bharat Ganga (23), who has been to Muscat for the past three years, were shocked to learn that they were named as NREGS employees on record and have been even paid for their work. "How can this be? I moved out of India three years ago," Ganga told The Indian Express.

Varu Karsan Uka (38), an official with the Pashcim Gujarat Vij Company Limited for 15 years also holds the job card number GJ-21-005-030-001/726. Even his wife has been also named as a card holding labourer. According to the records, the couple had built roads and dug wells for 60 days and received Rs 6,000 for their work. "How can I possibly get an NREGS job card when I am a state government official ?" said Uka.

Dr Dayaram Babhania (58), a well-known physician in Kutiyana too holds a job card (number GJ-21-005-030-001/526), though he admits never to have lifted a pickaxe in his entire life.

Other like him on the list are Range Forest Officer Jesa Odedara, Forest Guard Arshi Bhattu, Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) employees Meru Odedara and Arjan Odedara, teacher Leela Dasa, Ex-serviceman Kunti Rama and NRIs Haja Modha, who have long left the village and settled in Israel. On paper, all are 'labourers' and many have been paid too.

Kutiyana Sub-Inspector I Damor said the police probe will take a while since details of all the 963 accounts need to be verified.

Kutiyana Taluka Development Officer J Gamit said, "Preliminary investigation by the department has revealed that at least 73 cardholders are government employees, professionals or NRIs."

District Development Officer K D Bhatt said: "We will begin a door-to-door survey to find the exact scale of the scam."

Source: Indian Express through Yahoo

Online Users in India and Their User Behavior- a report by India-Reports

India has witnessed an increase in the number of internet users. The behavior pattern of internet users can be ascertained with respect to different parameters, which include: users in metros, cities and rural areas, age group of population accessing internet, and purposes of accessing internet.
The surge in internet usage in small towns and rural India has been more than that in big cities and metros. In India, the youth drive internet usage. School and college going students along with young men contribute to 72% of internet activity. (Source IAMA Report – 2008-2009)
People use internet for various purposes, which include: email, information search, academic information search, music/video on internet, chatting, online job search, gaming, financial information search, booking railway tickets, online news, internet telephony/video chat/voice chat, and online banking.
Top ten sites viewed by Indians during 2009 include:
google.co.in
google.com
yahoo.com
facebook.com
blogger.com
youtube.com
orkut.co.in
rediff.com
wikipedia.org
orkut.com
Indians, being cautious buyers start online shopping with the purchase of railway or airline tickets. This is perceived as a safe bet due to uniformity of services to the buyers.
Reasons for Growth in Online Users in India.

It is predicted that by year 2015, around 65% of Indian population will be in the age group of 15-35 years. Since youth is an early adaptor of all technology, this seems to be a positive factor for the Indian eCommerce market.

Reasons for Growth in Online Users in India:

It is predicted that by year 2015, around 65% of Indian population will be in the age group of 15-35 years. Since youth is an early adaptor of all technology, this seems to be a positive factor for the Indian eCommerce market.
India has an added advantage of lowest broadband prices in the world, which is $4-$5 per month. This enhances the potential of online transactions.
Indian population has better adopted mobile phones as compared to internet. Thus, there is a huge potential of mCommerce in India. Mobile phones provide flexibility to users to connect to internet without having to find a place to plug in into the internet. The mobile penetration in India is expected to become 1 billion by 2014, which will further enhance the opportunities of mCommerce. Currently, there are about 440 million subscribers for mobile phones, which covers around 40% of the country’s population.
India has already started the efforts to provide biometric identity to all its citizens. This is equivalent to Social Security Number in the West. Having this unique identity in place, online financial transactions would become much safer as they can be easily tracked and subject to law.

Source: http://india-reports.in/uncategorized/analysis-of-the-online-user-behavior-in-india/

mobile internet is growing in India

The number of users who surf the internet on personal computers (desktops and laptops) may not have grown as fast as the industry expected it to. Innovative data plans offered by telecom operators, and reduction in prices of internet-enabled handsets are expected to make up for the gap with an increasing number of users surfing the net on their handsets.

The number of people hooked on to mobile internet in India, according to Google, now has more than doubled, from about 8-10 million in the beginning of the year 2009. The company says March-April last year was the inflation point in terms of traffic to Google Mobile, when it saw a four-fold increase in Google searches on mobiles.

“The year 2009 was big for us. We used to think that India is basically low-end mobile market with users having no appetite for data consumption over mobile. But towards the February and March timeframe in 2009, we started seeing a sudden spike in traffic in mobile Internet space. We analysed the data only to find that this is the real growth and the industry is growing,” says Alok Goel, product manager, Mobile, Google India.

This, despite the fact that the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) had recently estimated the number of mobile internet users to be around 2 million. Industry experts reason that there are a little over 500 million mobile phone subscribers in India and with the prices of internet-enabled handsets falling, the number of people who surf the internet on their mobiles presently hovers around the 10 million mark.

The low cost of a general packet radio service (GPRS)-ready mobile handset is a major factor which is driving growth. For instance, an internet-enabled handset costs at least Rs 5,000 almost a year ago. Today, a customer can buy a GPRS-enabled handset for as low as Rs 2,000.

Tata Docomo, a relatively-new entrant in the cellular market in India, says about 40-45 per cent of its subscribers have GPRS activated on the mobile connections “leading to healthy data usage”. “While it is still early days for us to put an annual growth figure given that we have been around for just over six months, data is one of the fastest growing revenue streams for us,” says Deepak Gulati, President, Tata Docomo.

The company sees mobile internet usage happening for messaging, e-mail, social networking and entertainment. “Social networking is one of the fastest-growing areas and mobile Internet fits perfectly into the scheme of things as it allows friends to remain in constant touch irrespective of the time or their location,” adds Gulati.

Most cellular operators that are seeing a huge traction in the mobile internet user base, say that the plans being offered to subscribers have also become a major factor driving mobile internet usage. Cellular operators like Airtel, Tata Docomo, Aircel have introduced innovative data plans to help users get unlimited access to data for less than Rs 100 per month.

Aircel’s pocket Internet cards, for instance, are available for just Rs 98 per month (the company also offers a 3-day plan for Rs 14) and give unlimited browsing, gaming, music. In fact, before launching its campaign in traditional media, Aircel used the Facebook to launch the campaign for pocket Internet card since the purpose was to communicate the message to the youth first. “We are the first to democratise the product (mobile Internet). We have nearly 31 million subscribers now across 18 circles of which a significant number of subscribers use pocket Internet,” an Aircel spokesperson said.

Soon after Aircel introduced pocket Internet card in May 2009, Google saw a “50X increase in Internet usage on Google Mobile by Aircel customers”, according to Goel.

India’s number one cellular service provider Airtel, too, offers data plans at Rs 95 a month. The company is seeing significant increase in mobile Internet users in rural area because of the lack of proper broadband connectivity there. Recently, Tata Docomo has launched a monthly pack for Rs 48 with a 30-day validity and 100 MB data transfer limit during the day and 2GB data transfer during night. The company has now customised GPRS packs which allow customers to get unlimited Internet access for Rs 5 per day.

“Most of these plans are non-confusing with no hidden charges which seems to have done away with the fear among the users on the cost associated with browsing the Internet on mobile,” says Rutvik Doshi, product manager at Google India. He said the devices are also becoming cheaper and smart phones are available in the Rs 7,000-10,000 price point which has made the consumers affordable to but them.

“The trend of using mobile phones for Internet access has already started picking up and we will only see this trend grow manifold when 3G services are launched,” adds Gulati of Tata Docomo.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mobile-internet-usage-onroll-in-india/386465/

71 Million People Claimed to have used Internet in 2009!

71 million people claimed to have used internet in 2009 according to the Internet in India [I-Cube] Report published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] and market research leader IMRB .

71 million people claimed to have used internet in 2009 according to the Internet in India [I-Cube] Report published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] and market research leader IMRB here today.

Active users, those who use internet at least once a month according the international standards of reckoning, rose from 42 million in September 2008 to 52 million in September 2009 according to the study, registering a year on year growth of 19%. The 'claimed users' is an important category for understanding future trends in active user base.

This surge in number has been primarily due to the increased numbers of the users in the remote urban pockets (small metros and towns) and among lower socio-economic classes (SEC C, D &E). This development has been more striking this year as the combined usage of these geographies and classes have overtaken top cities and higher socio-economic classes in numbers.This finding clearly indicates that the Internet has reached to remote masses in urban India.

The report further states that Internet usage has gone up from 9.3 hrs/week to 15.7 hrs/week i.e. a steep 70% rise. The reason can be attributed to innovative content delivery, better applications and its increased use for entertainment purposes, which comprises downloading music or videos, socializing through social networking sites and expressing one's own opinions and views through micro-blogging and user-generated content sites.

Youth continues to drive the surge in Internet use and form major portion of the total users. Among youths, the Internet is primarily being used for searching general information and for entertainment.

Commenting on the report, IAMAI president Subho Ray said: "While we are happy to note while people in the smaller towns are taking to internet seriously, for a deeper engagement we need to provide them the best innovations in the language of their choice, at an access cost that does not pinch and through a device that they have. Only then this engagement is going to be sustainable."
Source: http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/internet/2010040547312.htm

Internet and its effects among the youth in India

For 19-year-old mass communication student Anshu Sharma, it is common to wake up suddenly in the night to check if there is any new mail or to see the latest update of her other social networking partners. Sharma, according to psychiatrists, is among a growing number of Indians aged between 15 and 30 years who suffer from ‘techno-anxiety’. The increase in the number of social networking websites and growing instances of its overuse have led to habits in many young people, which are causing neurological disorders, restlessness, hostility, irritation and distancing from family members. ‘‘Yes, it happens to me. Be it in the classroom or at home, I am always online, either through the computer or on my phone. There is always an anxiety to know what others are doing. I update my facebook status and tweet almost every few minutes and wait for others to comment on them. When people do not comment, I feel restless,’’ said Gaurav Saxena, who studies at a private engineering college in Delhi. He says that the anxiety is more when he is alone. Software professional Vivek Trikha says that he spends most of his free time in office in checking mails and other social networking sites. According to psychiatrist Jitender Nagpal, even nine-year-old children come to him with parents. They feel restless if they are not able to check their mails constantly or if their parents try to monitor their use of internet. ‘‘They get irritated and often this techno-anxiety leads to aggressive behaviour. It causes mood swings and leads to lack of concentration in studies or work,’’ said Nagpal. He said many children find communicating through social networking websites easier than having personal interaction. He added, ‘‘There is every possibility that such children may become introverts when they grow up. They may not perform well in seminars, recitations and group discussions.’’ India has more than 50 million internet users and the number is increasing fast. A major section of internet users (85%) are between the age-group of 19-40 years. Five to six years ago, there were mails, then came the option to chat and now there is a flurry of social networking sites Psychiatrists say they receive more than five to six cases of psychological problems caused by the overuse of internet almost every day. The problems include lack of attention or focus, difficulty in processing real time information, anxiety and mood swings. It leads to irregular sleeping habits, which can cause other health problems. ‘‘Parents should monitor the use of internet by children and help them communicate real time as much as possible. For grown-ups, there is a need to first identify the problem and accept it. Self-assessment can help and in extreme cases counseling may be required,’’ said another expert.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Net-worked-youth-lose-sleep/articleshow/6273319.cms