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By using the mass media, people are participating in the world of consumption. People use mass media for a variety of reasons, including entertainment, work and study. The total consumption of newspapers, television and radio has not changed greatly in Australia in the past few years but use of the Internet has increased (particularly among young people) and cable and digital television viewing has risen since its introduction (Productivity Commission, 2000: 68). Media consumption habits and preferences vary significantly across the Australian population. Media consumption – especially consumption of new media – generally increases with socioeconomic status (based on income, occupation and education levels).
Media consumption habits vary across different age groups. As the Productivity Commission found:
“Younger people are heavy users of the Internet but light users of most of the traditional media when compared with older people. For a variety of reasons, consumption of the traditional media increases as people get older; for example, many people aged over 50 are retired and have more time to spend consuming media, yet this age group has the lowest use of the Internet�?
(2000: 71).
As children grow older, their choice and use of media widen to include the use of music and electronic games (Drotner, 2001: 291). So, when studying young audiences’ entire media landscape, the general conclusion to be drawn is that different forms of media reception increases with age. Music, fiction in film, books and on television, and electronic games are mostly associated with excitement, entertainment, and having fun – definite characteristics attracting those of a younger age. As children get older, news and documentary genres – which are associated with information and more or less ‘useful knowledge’ (gratifications that are primarily sustained by national or local media institutions), most of which are furthermore linked to public service ideals and in a wider sense to the educative ideals promoted in school – ultimately become more appealing (Drotner, 2001: 303).
“The rising generations are often the first to acquire new cultural abilities through their leisure use of media, whereas adults exercise a necessary role as gatekeepers, controlling which of these cultural abilities are to be considered socially accepted competencies, and thus, implement the use of such new cultural abilities (e.g, the Internet), for example, within the educational systems�? (Drotner, 2001: 303).
The diverse use of different media and genres for different purposes throughout various ages (for example, adults are more likely to read newspapers and watch television news than listen to music or play electronic games) has decisive implications for media's future. However, what this heralds for the future is uncertain, but one possibility is that there could be a fundamental shift in the total population’s consumption of media as young people age, with a growing importance of new media such as the Internet and a declining importance of traditional media such as newspapers and commercial television.
--Paul Fitzpatrick 17:49, 27 Oct 2005 (EST)
