The Digital Youth Index - Understand the Impact of Technology on Young People

The Nominet Digital Youth Index is a free-to-use national, annual benchmarking and barometer research identifying and monitoring the key drivers, issues and opportunities in young people’s relationship with digital technology across the UK.

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Digital Youth Index Read the full 2022 report

The Nominet Digital Youth Index is a benchmarking report offering insight into young people’s digital experiences. What are the challenges and barriers they face? What do they love – and what do they worry about? Importantly, how can we help them harness the positive power that the digital world promises?

It’s the brainchild of Nominet’s Social Impact Programme and we’ll be gathering this data every year. It helps us – and you – to understand the digital lives of the young and identify the areas where we need to help them thrive.

The data is available for use and you can read the full 2022 report with our insight and analysis from the research via the link below.

Read the Nominet Digital Youth Index report 2022

Featured Story

43% of young people say they taught themselves about online safety

Many young people lack reliable and authoritative sources to learn about staying safe online. To allow us to move forward with online safety we must identify the issues and perceived blockers that really matter to young people and understand the changes they want to see.

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95% of young people say they feel safe online

95% of young people say they feel safe online despite 1 in 4 having experienced violence, trolling or abuse, or sexual content

The vast majority of young people report they feel safe online, despite a quarter having encountered violence (26%), trolling or abuse (23%), or unsolicited sexual content (23%).

The more confident a young person is of their understanding of internet safety, the more likely they are to feel safe. 23% of young people who reported not understanding internet safety feel unsafe online, versus just 3% of those who claim to completely understand it, which would suggest knowledge delivers confidence.

Internet Safety Index score: 79

95% of young people say they feel safe online, yet 4.2 million young people(29%) have experienced hate speech online.
Around 1 in 4 young people have experienced violence (26%), trolling or abuse (23%), and/or sexual content (23%).
Minority groups are most vulnerable to seeing negative content online, aided by the anonymity of the digital landscape.
Three quarters of young people state that they feel ‘in control’ of what they see online (73%).
6% of young people would not trust anyone to help them if they saw something that made them feel unsafe online.

Digital Wellbeing Index score: 65

53% of young people say online life has a positive impact on their relationships with friends, but 865,000 young people (6%) – say
it has a negative impact (41% no impact).
One in four young people would like to spend less time on their digital devices.
Nearly three-fifths (58%) of parents with children under 16 limit the hours their children spend using their digital devices.
The internet and digital devices negatively impact the sleep of three in ten young people.

Digital Access Index score: 62

A quarter of young people (26%) do not have access to a laptop, Chromebook or similar device.
Among those who don’t have access to a smartphone, the key reasons include parents not allowing it or not believing they are safe to use, and expense.
Young people are most concerned about having access to a smartphone, or having the latest version to keep up with peers.

key insights

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Internet safety and countering harms

6 February 2023

Online safety through the eyes of young people

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Digital access and inclusion

31 January 2023

Interview: 10-year-old discusses how she feels about not yet having access to a mobile phone

The Digital Youth Index allows us to hear from young people themselves, just like this 10-year-old who alludes to feelings of digital isolation by not having access to a mobile device.

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Internet safety and countering harms

27 January 2023

Interview: 21-year old shares his perspective around online safety

A 21-year-old interviewed as part of our Nominet Digital Youth Index questions whether online safety approaches used in schools, and by parents, are sufficient in today’s digital society.

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Digital Youth Index for action

Digital Youth Index Read the full 2022 report

43% of young people say they taught themselves about online safety

95% of young people say they feel safe online

Internet Safety Index score: 79

Digital Wellbeing Index score: 65

Digital Access Index score: 62

key insights

Online safety through the eyes of young people

Interview: 10-year-old discusses how she feels about not yet having access to a mobile phone

Interview: 21-year old shares his perspective around online safety