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It is not a path of roses, even if they think so. We are talking about young Spaniards, who dream of being content creators or 'influencers'. That is to say, they pursue the dream that very few manage to materialize because they access an idyllic online world that is not what it seems.
According to the research data 'Consume, create, play. Overview of the digital leisure of youth', carried out by the Reina Sofía Center on Adolescence and Youth of the FAD Youth Foundation between 1.200 people between 15 and 29 years old, 1 in 10 young people indicates that they are dedicating themselves to the creation of content professionally and practically 1 in 3 would like to be 'influence', percentages significantly higher among the groups of 15 to 19 years.
Sober all young people actively follow people who create content online, especially through Instagram (86,7%). For them, the creation of digital content is a daily act: 8 out of 10 create content online. Everyone has a positive view of the content creation profession, highlighting that it is an ideal channel to create content committed to social causes or to raise awareness (60,7%), that it has a great future (59,7%) where allows creativity to be unleashed with more freedom than in traditional media (56,2%). There is also a significant percentage of young people who consider that it is a socially valued profession (50,3%) and one that is difficult to live with (48,8%).
According to the report, young people consider that dedication to content creation "is very complicated due to the enormous competitiveness of the sector." Even so, 7.8% have tried to make a living from it in the last year and have given up. "In fact -highlights the study-, between 2020 and 2021 young people who have tried it and have left it have been considerably concerned, going from 1,8% to 7,8% in just one year". For the experts, these figures give clues about »the frustration and pressure to which those who fail to succeed are subjected, blinded only by what they consume, without knowing, to a large extent, the competitiveness of the sector and the difficulty in obtaining certain numbers. that guarantees the economic viability of the dedication”. Don't forget that content creators invest a lot of time and effort: it's not just what you see on the screen.
For Eurídice Cabañes, Philosopher of Technology at Ars Games, who attended the presentation of the report this Thursday, young people have to be clear about one aspect: “This study talks about digital leisure. But if we talk about adolescents wanting to dedicate themselves to content creation, we are no longer talking about leisure, we are talking about work. Providing content is work. The key is: Do you want to get paid for that job?«.
The report highlights that "it is such a small window of opportunity and dependent on so many extrapersonal factors that it can lead to frustration among the vast majority of those who try but cannot succeed."
Video games and gender differences
Consuming content from “influencers” is not the only thing that makes up the digital leisure of young Spaniards, who spend 7 hours a day consuming, creating and playing, whether listening to a podcast, watching series and movies on demand or playing video games online. Live immersed in a multiple and diversified technological ecosystem that offers diverse and varied options.
Video games have established themselves as a fundamental dimension of youth entertainment. Almost 9 out of 10 young people are gamers (86,8%) and 37,4% play daily. In addition, a vast majority (85,9%) consume some type of “gaming” content (reviews, gameplays, streaming, etc.).
Even so, the report highlights how video games seem to be a fairly masculinized sector: among young men, 95,4% play video games, while among women, that percentage is 78,4%.
In general, there is a positive view of video games among young people, but the consensus is not generalized and there is a more negative view among girls and a more positive view among boys: sexism in video games and the ideological values that transmit. In fact, 47,9% of them think that the games are designed for boys and 54,1% that they have sexist content.
On the other hand, the positive view of the educational value of video games stands out: 52% say that playing helps to develop personal and professional skills and to learn things. In fact, 41,3% think that video games have become a learning tool in the classroom.
As negative aspects, the negotiation model is mainly criticized: 47,9% of young people reject microtransactions within games, which means that 44,8% think that games can generate addiction.
To reach
This ecosystem of youth leisure is possible thanks to the availability of the means for it. Of course, more than 70% of young people between the ages of 15 and 29 have at least four different devices through which they engage in digital entertainment: smartphone, laptop, smart TV, game console, tablet, etc. And the vast majority (79,9%) use them for recreational purposes on a daily basis.
In other words, young people have integrated technology into their daily lives not only to communicate or to get information -the most widespread uses-, but also to have fun, both alone and in a group.
The most frequent leisure activities that they carry out have to do with music; audiovisual content (videos, movies, series, etc.); and social networks, especially Instagram (19-29 years old) and TikTok (15-18 years old).
But apart from time, they also invest money. Very out of four young people have subscriptions to some type of paid audiovisual content, so half compare the subscription with other people (54%). 23,8% have a paid subscription to content from creators, 21,7% pay a subscription for online video games and 17,8% subscribe to paid video game platforms.
Risks of digital leisure
In short, the report talks about the dangers of digital youth entertainment. The first is inequality, since among young people with more unfavorable socioeconomic positions there are fewer adolescents who enjoy digital entertainment on a daily basis: 62,3% compared to 89%.
But especially problematic is the high level of ignorance about spending on subscriptions to paid content, donations and microtransactions detected among the most vulnerable youth groups. From the psychosocial point of view, they point out some experiences of bullying, harassment and violation of privacy, both in content creation practices and in online video games. Negative experiences are more frequent among girls, more likely to hide their identity online, and even boys receive more insults playing online.
Another aspect to take into account is the excessive consumption, or even compulsive, that some young people point out in their answers and especially among those who have greater material deficiencies.
With regard to content, young people point to the excessive sexualization of said content as the main risks of this digital leisure: one in three thinks that it is highly sexualized and one in five has uploaded (or has considered) erotic or sexual content to the network to get followers or economic benefits. This practice is more common among young people with greater material deprivation.
Besides, they indicate a certain loss of intimacy. Women feel more exposed online and are more likely to avoid submitting to online content to protect their privacy or from harassment. They are the ones who have blocked people to a greater extent for having received harassment.
