Brave new world
Like it or not, kids inhabit some spaces most parents don’t even know about. But when it comes to using digital tools to communicate with and meet friends, there are various options — each with a particular appeal for different age groups.
The greatest appeal across the board is low-cost communications, but the debate on whether kids’ safety is the real price of keeping in touch in a virtual world rages on.
Besides face-to-face communication, youngsters opt for services that are cheap, quick and easy to sign up for. Three of the most common used by kids of all ages are MXit, a free-to-download phone and computer communications portal, SMSing and Facebook.
You may wonder just how much kids need to stay in contact with friends they see every day, but the range of reasons for MXit, Facebook or computer-based chat programs are mind boggling.
“I live on MXit and have over 300 friends on it. I also use Facebook because you can make a lot of friends and you can meet up with old friends that have left your school. It is also really useful to find out about homework assignments,” says Cayley Francis, 13.
Iman Sultan, 12, adds that MXit is the cheapest way to socialise on a cellphone: “If you phone, it takes up all your airtime, but if you chat on MXit it’s only one cent a message.”
While more traditional means of staying in touch like a phone call may be used for close friends, chat services are handy for keeping tabs on social developments en masse.
MXit Lifestyle, which is 30% owned by Naspers, developed South Africa’s first free instant messaging program for cellphones and computers, using GPRS rather than GSM technology. This means SMSs are substantially cheaper.
The program has developed to include games, a variety of phone customisation tools and even MXit Music, where unsigned local artists can upload their work for others to download free.
MXit was launched in May 2005 and general manager Paul Stemmet claims it has 7.5 million users, with 6.5 million in South Africa. The most active users are, naturally, under the age of 18.
Forward-thinking advertisers have begun to use MXit to reach youngsters, with its network now featuring more than 12 million adverts a day, generating R3-million in monthly revenue.
The benefits of this service are purportedly not only for commercial gain — Math on MXit was launched in 2007 as a tutoring support service, although platform issues have stunted its rollout.
Facebook is the king of social interaction sites, with a surge of sign-ups dethroning MySpace from its dominant youth position.
“When MySpace came to South Africa, everybody spoke about it but nobody really used it,” comments Firdaus Essop, 17. “MySpace is more of an international thing while Facebook has become more local. It is much more user-friendly and offers more applications to personalise it.”
But amid the positives of such services come the inevitable abuse and safety issues. Last month, a 14- year-old Johannesburg learner’s Facebook account was hacked into and used to disseminate pornography and abusive messages.
Last month, two learners also went missing and their disappearance was thought to be linked to MXit usage.
Media and ICT commentator Arthur Goldstuck says Facebook’s inability to address the issue of compromised user accounts because of legal red tape demands discussion.
He says youngsters should not always be blamed for failing to protect their information, especially when their details are exploited by sophisticated abusers posing as friends.
While identity deception and theft may occur, it is certainly not the norm, and today’s kids have fairly strong feelings on security online. Referring to disclaimers and warning messages posted on each social networking site, it seems kids are happy to look after themselves.
“Parents assume if you have MXit or Facebook it’s a bad thing. With MXit I only speak to people I know, who I’ve met in person. And with Facebook you can see photos of people and if you don’t recognise them you ask who they are. With great power comes great responsibility,” says Essop .
For the vast majority of youngsters, however, the most pressing problem seems to be the time and money these services use up.
There is widespread concern about youngsters becoming addicted to chat services and failing to communicate in a normal manner with family at home.
“It kills boredom. You get home and turn it on because it’s just something to do,” says Mishak Tsotetsi, 20. “And then you end up leaving it on all the time and watching in case something interesting happens.”
“If you are on MXit all the time, I don’t think you interact properly with your family and there will be problems later on in life,” says Thasvir Komal, 11.
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