A new Gartner study called “Consumers' Value Perception of the Internet” surveyed 4,779 internet users in 18 countries and presents some significant, actionable, insights… Amongst other findings, it pretty much says that almost all people, across every demographic are using the internet to do the same the things:
 
1. Email
2. Search
3. Online Banking (somewhat surprising)
4. Sharing photos, videos, and files
5. Using geographic navigation services
6. Shopping
 
This behavior holds true for everyone except the 13 – 18 year-olds.  Their online activities are somewhat different…

Email is still #1 but music downloading is #2 (more bad news for the record industry, of course) and IM’ing, social networking, TV watching, blogs, chat rooms, dating, and message boards all follow closely behind.   For these young, early adopters, their internet activities (via computers or mobile devices) are a wholly acceptable companion/substitute/complement to their real-life activities.

Bearing that info in mind, it’s reasonable to presume that the overall evolution in digital applications will be moving in this direction in the years to come, as this demo matures.

Elroy Jopling, research director at Gartner and author of the study explains that “a new 'trickle down' phenomenon, where teenagers lead the evolution of consumer Internet applications, heralds a new era where Internet applications will mimic life -- communicating, entertaining, socializing, informing, transactional, either in a fixed location or on the move." 

You can purchase the whole Gartner report here: http://www.gartner.com/ or read more about it here: http://news.moneycentral.msn.com

- Jon Fox