Estonian Human Development Report

Figure 5.4.6. Time spent on the consumption of
media, doing homework, and engaging in sports and
hobbies among 6 th to 12 th year pupils of city schools
with Estonian as the language of instruction (means
on a scale of frequency 0 – “not at all” ... 4 – “more
than 3 hours a day”)
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
2.67
2.12
2.1
1.8
1.44
1.41
1.1
Figure 5.4.7. Percentage of people who engage in
online content creation activities “often”, “consistently”
or “sometimes” among all Internet users and
the 15–19 age group
Participating in gaming
environments
Commenting on articles
published in Delfi or online
newspapers
Using forums to express my
opinion on topics I consider
important
Posting and updating information
about myself in
social networking portals
Searching for and managing
information regarding
friends and acquaintances in
social networking portals
Sharing music, films, programs
Uploading videos
Uploading pictures and
photos
Updating my website or blog
2.54
2.33
1.94
1.76
1.28
1.13
0.87
2001–2002 2005 2007
Sources: Estonian schools pupils’ media use survey 2001–2002; Noored ja
meedia 2005; Noored ja Internet 2007
10
Source: Mina. Maailm. Meedia 2008
12
12
14
16
18
18
18
22
autumn 2007, 37% of school pupils had their own computer
which was connected to the Internet (the corresponding
figures were 25% in 2005 and 20% in 2001–2002).
The improved availability of home Internet access has
probably had a considerable effect on simultaneous changes
in the pupils’ time budget: the growth curve of the time
spent on the Internet in Figure 5.4.6. is very similar to the
growth curve of home Internet connections. During the
2001–2005 period there was a sharp increase in the amount
of time spent online on average; the Internet surpassed
books, radio, sports and other hobbies, doing homework,
as well as television as a means of spending time. It is noteworthy
that in 2005–2007, the increase in time spent on the
Internet has coincided with the continuous decrease in time
spent watching TV and listening to the radio, while the
time spent on doing homework and reading magazines and
newspapers has remained the same, the relative importance
28
30
32
2.74
2.12
2.06
1.76
1.05
0.96
0.86
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
36
All Internet users
Respondents aged
15–19
38
39
50
Books
Print media
Radio
TV
Internet
Studying
Sports,
hobbies
66
68
of reading books in pupils’ time budget has decreased a little,
and sports and hobbies have regained the level of importance
they held in 2001–2002. Thus, the increase in the relative
importance of the Internet has primarily affected the
share of time devoted to traditional electronic media – television
and radio; the decrease in the time spent on print
media has been somewhat smaller.
The central role of the Internet in school pupils’ daily
lives and use of time can also be expressed vividly in terms
of percentages: over 3 hours per day is usually spent on
the Internet by 28% of the respondents, while 30% spend
approximately 3 hours online, 30% spend 1–2 hours on the
Internet and only less than 10% of the respondents spend
less than an hour online on a daily basis (1% consider the
time they spend online to be insignificant).
Estonian youth as Internet users and creators
of online content
According to the 2008 population survey Mina. Maailm.
Meedia, young people in Estonia generally tend to characterize
their computer skills as good. Among respondents aged
15–19, 13% rate their skills as very good, 38% as good, and
24% as satisfactory. In terms of these indicators, their selfassessed
level of skill falls below that of the 20–29 age group
but surpasses all others. It is important to note that the girls
in the 15–19 age group have a significantly lower evaluation
of their computer skills than boys of the same age.
In the following section we will analyze the respondents
in the 15–19 age group in terms of the frequency and type of
their Internet use (for the typology of Internet users see 5.3).
Of the young people in this age group, 88% had used the
Internet on the day of the survey or on the previous day, 7%
had used the Internet within one week preceding the survey
and approximately 1% used the Internet on a less frequent
basis. Young people use the Internet primarily at home (81%
of the respondents use it at home on a daily basis), and significantly
less frequently at school (61% at least once a week)
and other places, for example a friend’s home or an Internet
access point (43% at least once a week).
The most widespread Internet user types among young
people aged 15–19 are entertainment-oriented active users
(43%) and entertainment and communication-oriented
infrequent users (38%). Active versatile Internet users make
up 9% of the age group and infrequent users account for
8%. Thus, the majority of young people aged 15–19 use the
Internet mostly for entertainment and communicating,
while Internet use for practical purposes and informationoriented
activities is less important for them.
A new potential in Internet use is seen in creative
online activities. Figure 5.4.7. compares the frequency of
content creation among young people aged 15–19 with
that of all Internet users.
As is often common in the case of new opportunities
and services, online content creation activities are mostly
popular among young people. The most common activity
both among the youngest age group and all Internet
users is the uploading of pictures. The second most important
activity is searching for and managing information
on friends in social networking portals (Orkut, Facebook,
Rate.ee, Myspace, LinkedIn, etc.). Commenting on articles
published in the Delfi news portal or online newspapers
is, somewhat surprisingly, a relatively uncommon
activity, ranking even below expressing one’s opinions in
online forums in terms of popularity.
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