Sarita Seshagiri
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of our qualitative and exploratory study on content consumption and exchange among college students in the city of Bangalore in Karnataka, India. The purpose was to learn what specific content, like music or audio, video or movies, text, voice and pictures was consumed and exchanged among college students and also what influenced it. It was found that students' preference for content was determined by their affinity with person/s within their social network. People, who belonged to the same network had shared preferences and therefore consumed and exchanged similar content. Exchange of content was not only due to similar content preferences, but also mutual trust and reciprocity. Music consumption was common and was also the most preferred type of content among college students. Creation of content was not common and was undertaken only by so-called 'tech-savvy' students, who also disseminated content to others in the social circle. Maintaining an online presence was important, since they could consume content and also strengthen their social circle. The latter was through social networking sites and mobile phone communication.
There were similarities in the way young users consumed media in emerging market like India and the western world. Some of these were preference for online privacy, usage of text messaging for coordinated meetings and predilection for content that was free of charge. Yet, there was a difference in the content that was created.
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