Information about the thesis "The Net Generation Audience and Mass Media" by graduate student Hoang Thi Thu Ha, majoring in Journalism.1. Student's Full Name: Hoang Thi Thu Ha 2. Gender: Female 3. Date of Birth: September 27, 1986 4. Place of Birth: Hanoi 5. Decision No. 1355/QD-XHNV-KH&SDH, dated October 24, 2008, issued by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 6. Changes during the training process: None 7. Thesis Title: The Net Generation's Audience and Mass Media 8. Major: Journalism; Code: 60.32.01 9. Scientific Advisor: Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong, Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities 10. Summary of thesis results: This thesis is a preliminary effort to understand a new media audience in Vietnam, known as the Net Generation audience. This work has only been able to conduct research on a relatively small sample. However, the research results have somewhat suggested the basic characteristics of this audience group. The author defines the Net Generation audience in Vietnam as those born between 1985 and 1999 (15 years) who use the internet. According to this definition, the Net Generation audience is concentrated in urban areas, especially large cities such as Hanoi; or in rural areas that have been and are being rapidly urbanized in Vietnam. Urban areas are the familiar setting for mass media, especially new media based on the internet. The "Net Generation" in downtown Hanoi is primarily a group of people who frequently use the internet for a variety of purposes, from information gathering and communication to learning, shopping, and entertainment. The three most common uses of the internet are information gathering, communication, and entertainment. Their interaction with the internet is significantly more complex than their interaction with print media, radio, or television. This is primarily due to the internet's prominent interactive nature and because this group is considered one of the first to adopt and utilize new forms of media. They also have a relatively high television viewership. The habit of watching television is a kind of "legacy" inherited from their grandparents and parents. Conversely, this group has a relatively low rate of print newspaper reading and radio listening. This requires changes from print and radio media to better attract this audience. The Net Generation allocates most of their time to using the internet and watching television, making them less inclined to read print newspapers or listen to radio broadcasts. They may even develop a reluctance to read. Furthermore, although they developed later, their internet usage habits have significantly influenced their television viewing habits. Overall, this group is far more proactive in forming and developing internet usage habits compared to their habits of reading print newspapers, listening to radio, or watching television. While sharing prominent commonalities in their use of mass media, this group also subgroups to a certain extent based on various factors such as tastes, gender, and educational background. 11. Practical Applications: The goal of this research is to help media professionals build specialized communication channels for the Net Generation audience in the most effective way. This will be the target audience for mass media in the coming decades. 12. Future Research Directions: This thesis suggests larger-scale research projects in the future. These include research on the segmentation within the Net Generation audience, the development of specialized communication channels for this audience, and especially research on the implementation of on-demand online radio and television channels. In addition, comparative research on content-based and target-based specialization, and research on the integration potential between mass media are also reasonable research directions in the context of contemporary media. 13. Published works related to the thesis: The article "On a New Generation of Media Audience," *Journalism – Theoretical and Practical Issues*, Vol. 7, p. 347, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Publishing House, 2010.
INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS
1. Full name: Hoang Thi Thu Ha 2. Sex: Female 3. Date of birth: September 27, 1986 4. Place of birth: Hanoi 5. Admission decision number: 1355/QD-XHNV-KH&SDH. Dated October 24th, 2008 6. Changes in academic process: None 7. Official thesis title: Net generation with the mass media 8. Major: Journalism Studies 9. Code: 60.32.01 10. Supervisor: Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong, Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi. 11. Summary of the findings of the thesis: This thesis is just an initial effort to study a newly emerging group of audience of Vietnam which is named for the first time in Vietnam as “net generation”. Although this research was just conducted on a small sample, it could suggest basic features of the net generation living in urban areas of Hanoi. Vietnam's net generation includes those who were born between 1985 and 1999 (15 years) and are now using the internet, as defined by the author. dynamic, the majority of the net generation of Vietnam is located in urban areas, especially in big cities such as Hanoi. Cities are the familiar context of the mass media, especially new internet – based tools. The net generation living in the urban areas of Hanoi are firstly those who frequently use the internet with a variety of purposes including collecting information, communicating, learning, purchasing and entertaining, among which the three most popular ones are collecting information, communicating and entertaining. The way this group of audience interacts with the internet is far more complicated than the way they interact with the traditional mass media, namely, print newspapers and broadcasting. The main reason lies in the high capability of interaction of the internet. Besides, the net generation are early adopters of high technologies. The net generation are also among those who have high frequency of watching television. The habit of watching television frequently is a sort of legacy from the older generations. On the other hand, this group of audience has considerably low frequency of reading newspapers and listening to radio, which requires essential changes to the two media. Most of the net generation's time for the mass media is television contributed to using the internet and watching, which makes them less available for newspapers or radio. They even tend to be afraid of reading. Furthermore, their habit of internet using has considerable influence on their habit of watching television despite that the internet has been accessible in Vietnam for only 14 years. By and large, the net generation are much more proactive in developing their habit of internet using, compared to newspapers reading, television viewing or radio listening. The net generation are divided in many subgroups based on interests, genders or learning environments although they have some prominent similarities in using the mass media. 12. Practical applicability, if any: The ultimate purpose of this research is to help communicators in Vietnam have basic knowledge of the so - called group of audience as the net generation of Vietnam, which facilitates their building of specific channels to reach the audience. 13. Further research directions, if any: This thesis suggests further research directions including the subgroups of the net generation living in the urban areas of Vietnam; the building of specific channels for the targeted audience of the net generation; the implementation of online broadcasting which develops on – demand programs; the comparative research between content – oriented tendency and audience – oriented tendency; and the integration of mass media. 14. Thesis-related publications: On the new generation of audience, Journalism - theoretical and practical issues, volume 7, p. 347, VNU Publishing House, 2010.
