Teens & Tech: Online vs in person – What teens want from socialising

Teenagers are extremely comfortable when it comes to technology. That we all know.

However, our recent research among teenagers and their attitudes towards technology and hospitality revealed some surprising truths.

Whilst these digital natives are dab-hands at digital communication, they also crave face-to-face contact when it comes to socialising with friends. Less than half of the teenagers we asked (45%) agreed that hanging out with people online is as good as meeting up in person.

And, somewhat more surprisingly, teenagers don’t want phones at the table:

“I feel like it distracts people. The worst thing is when you’re out with someone and they’re just on their phone the whole time.” – 14 year old

But it doesn’t end there.

The rise of competitive socialising presents a unique opportunity for hospitality to enhance these in-person experiences. 92% of Brits aged between 16 and 24 class themselves as gamers, so providing new and exciting – as well as more traditional – forms of entertainment in-venue could be key to engaging with this demographic.

Our surveys and focus groups with more than 500 teenagers aged between 13 and 17 revealed more eyebrow-raising findings – download the full report to read more!