"Youth Blue Book: China's Internet Usage Report for Minors (2023)" released
China Social Sciences Network (Reporter Wang Chunyan) On September 16, the “Youth Blue Book: China’s Minors’ Internet Usage Report (2023)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Blue Book”) was released in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu. The editors-in-chief of the Blue Book are Fang Yong, Party Secretary of the Institute of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Ji Weimin, Deputy Director of the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Shen Jie, Professor of the School of Social Sciences and Ethnic Studies of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; the deputy editors-in-chief of the Blue Book are Fang Yong, Party Secretary of the Institute of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Ji Weimin, Deputy Director of the Institute of Industrial Economics Ji Lin, director of the Media and Education Center, Yang Binyan, executive editor of the Blue Book and associate researcher at the Institute of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Chen Weibing, member of the Standing Committee of the Zhangjiagang Municipal Party Committee and Minister of the Propaganda Department, attended the press conference and spoke.
Internet use by minors is a major strategic issue related to the building of a strong cyber nation and the growth and development of minors. It is also a fundamental issue that the whole society is concerned about. The Blue Book is an important outcome of the “Survey on Internet Usage of Chinese Minors”, a sub-project of the “China Minors’ Internet Pulse Project”. The survey was launched in 2006, and as of March 2022, a total of 11 national sampling surveys have been completed. Based on the 11th survey data and special research by experts and scholars in this field, this book focuses on reporting the latest developments in China’s minors’ online behavior, online literacy, online communication, and online culture. It is the ninth volume of the Youth Blue Book.
At present, the Internet has penetrated into people’s lives in all aspects, profoundly changing the mechanism of social operation and influencing the formation of people’s value system. All aspects of social life are increasingly dependent on the Internet. Faced with the endless emergence of Internet products and the complex and ever-changing Internet environment, it is of great theoretical significance to explore how to build a good society for minors to use Internet users and cultivate high-quality “digital citizens”. and practical significance. The Blue Book research found that the “digital tentacles” of minors have greatly extended, they generally have basic scientific literacy, and are more integrated into digital life. The epidemic has accelerated the migration of minors to the online world, causing a significant increase in the frequency of minors accessing the Internet and using the Internet; the Internet penetration rate among minors is almost saturated, and there is a clear trend of younger people accessing the Internet. The overall age of urban minors accessing the Internet is earlier than that of rural minors. ; The Internet literacy of minors shows urban and rural differences, career planning reflects the regional information gap, career ideals are concentrated, and there are gender differences and cognitive rigidity in career choices. Minors have strengthened their cloud-based communication, paid more attention to social hot spots, and increased their social participation; their Internet usage is concentrated on entertainment and learning, and short video applications and websites are the most popular among minors. Minors use the Internet to keep in touch with their peers and generations, showing the characteristics of digital “mutual feeding”; the social media platforms they use have gradually shifted from QQ to WeChat, their willingness to present themselves has declined, and their online participation is not yet in-depth; Internet buzzwords are used by minors It is widely used, online imitation phenomenon is prominent, and popular culture consumption is showing social and circle-based characteristics.
The study found that there are some problems with minors’ Internet use, such as the urban-rural gap in minors’ Internet use and the obvious information differences between regions; minors generally lack awareness of the risks of using the Internet, and Internet literacy education lags behind minors’ Internet use. The real needs of the Internet; some minors continue to be addicted to the Internet, affecting their physical and mental health and the formation of correct values; parents and teachers tend to be open to minors’ Internet access, but more cooperation is needed in protection and guidance; minors use There are certain misalignments and lags in Internet-related policies, and the effects of existing regulatory measures are not ideal. In this regard, the Blue Book recommends that we pay attention to regional information differences, promote the circulation of educational resources, and bridge the urban-rural digital divide; respect the subjectivity of underage netizens as members of society, and help minors protect themselves when using the Internet; improve the system and culture Development will promote the improvement of the Internet literacy of the whole people and build a good society for minors to use the Internet; strengthen technical protection and use technical means to safeguard minors’ use of the Internet; be sensitive to changes in the times and further innovate and improve policy regulations on minors’ use of the Internet.
The press conference was hosted by the Institute of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the School of Journalism and Communication of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Social Sciences Academic Press, and was also attended by the Publicity Department of the Zhangjiagang Municipal Party Committee, the Zhangjiagang Municipal Civilization Office, the Zhangjiagang Municipal Cyberspace Administration, the Zhangjiagang Municipal Federation of Social Sciences, and the Spiritual Science Press. Co-organized by Zhangjiagang Research and Exchange Center for Civilization Construction and Media Communication and Youth Development Research Center of the Institute of Journalism and Communication, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.