IAC Survey: Chinese Youth Lead Digital Self-Expression; Plans China Expansion

A survey out today from IAC and JWT shows that Chinese youth lead American youth in digital self-expression online. The "Young Digital Mavens" study aimed to explore how attitudes toward digital technology are changing among Chinese and American youth at a time when people are spending less time with traditional media and more with interactive technology.

"The Chinese people seem to be way ahead of Americans in living a digital life," noted IAC Chairman and CEO Barry Diller today in Beijing.

This survey comes at the same time as Mr. Diller announcing plans to epand IAC and the Ask.com search engine into China, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Some snippits from the survey:

While many Westerners debate whether online experiences and relationships are "real," far fewer Chinese have doubts. As many as 82 percent of young Chinese agreed that "Interactivity helps create intimacy, even at a distance," compared with just 36 percent of young Americans. And almost two- thirds (63 percent) of Chinese respondents agreed that "It’s perfectly possible to have real relationships purely online with no face-to-face contact," vs. only 21 percent of Americans.

Chinese culture may have a reputation for being far more sexually conservative than American culture, but strikingly, three times as many Chinese as Americans (32 percent vs. 11 percent) were willing to admit that the Internet has broadened their sex life.

Chinese respondents were also more likely than Americans to say they have expressed personal opinions or written about themselves online (72 percent vs. 56 percent).

"One of the biggest differences between American and Chinese youth is in attitudes toward anonymity," says Doctoroff. "In the U.S., with its cult of celebrity, young Americans see the Internet as a way of getting known, of building their personal brand; many regard the Internet as a kind of personal broadcasting medium. But whereas publicizing your name, face and opinions is seen as a step toward success in the U.S., in China it has been a surefire way of veering into dangerous territory. So for young Chinese, the Internet is the ideal place to air opinions and hear what others think without crossing the line."

And here is the Appendix graph for reference: