Youth Work Mobile 2.0 – YOWOMO2.0

Situations- und Problembeschreibung:

There is growing significance of mobile devices in people's everyday lives. According to Bitkom 93% of the mobile phones sold are smartphones. Smartphones are used for Entertainment (music, games, TV) - 33%, Communication (voice, SMS, eMail) - 28%, Web Surfing - 21%, Social Networking - 15%, and Camera - 3%. But the significance of mobile devices manifests itself also in the use of smartphones for "identity formation, social interaction, making meaning in and of the world, leisure pursuits" (Pachler, Seipold & Bachmair, 2012, p. 11). Especially young people use mobile devices as their main internet access and to use social media like Facebook which is the most relevant use case for young people. There is a danger that the development in technology use in everyday life can divide youth workers and their young clients depending on how familiar each group is with the use of mobile devices. This is often discussed in terms of "digital natives vs. digital immigrants", "Generation X, Y & Z", "digital divide", "generation gap", or using Sinus-Milieus (DIVSI Milieu Study on Trust and Security on the Internet, 2012). Youth workers, especially women, are usually not tech-savvy (digital immigrants, Generation X or Y) whilst young people are often early adopters of new technologies (digital natives, Generation Y or Z).