How does the next generation use technology? Is social media still cool? And just what is so great about Fortnite? In honour of WIRED’s tenth birthday, we spoke to ten ten-year-olds from William Patten Primary School in Stoke Newington, London, about their experiences with technology, how they spend their time, and their hopes and fears for the future.
At 10, most of our interviewees did not yet have their own phones, though many expected to get one when they start secondary school. Almost none had social media accounts, with several citing issues such as cyberbullying and stalking as reasons to be cautious.
That’s not to say they don’t communicate online at all. Gaming – and particularly Fortnite – was hugely popular among the classmates, and many said they chatted to friends while playing games. “I only talk to my friends,” explains Meliz, an avid gamer. “If I'm talking to someone I don't know, if they ask me something about the game, like ‘How do you do this?’ I'll tell them, but if they ask ‘Where do you live?’ I won't tell them anything like that.”
YouTube was another favourite online destination, with the ten-year-olds mainly using the site to research homework, watch “challenge” videos by the likes of Joe Sugg and pick up gaming tips from popular streamers such as LazarBeam.
Judging by the children’s visions of 2029, the future will be flying, as respondents separately predicted hoverboards, hover bikes and hover cars all being invented in the next ten years. Several said that climate change was their biggest concern and stressed the need to switch to renewable energy sources. Florence shares that her biggest fear is “probably war and politics going a bit crazy.” Does she think that’s likely? “It's likely, but I don’t think it will happen. I think they'll take care of it because it's their job and they should.”
Marnie
Wants to be: vet Most-used technology: phone
What’s your favourite app?Words with Friends. I play my mum's colleagues and friends which is fun because you get to play with words and get competitive with people. I beat my mum's friends quite a bit.
Do you use social media?We have an Instagram for our kitten. I used to have my own account but then something happened so I decided to get rid of it. Someone did something bad on it that convinced me not to continue using it for a few years.
Do you think social media is a good thing or a bad thing?It depends how you use it. If you just use it with people you're close with then it's a good thing, because it's sharing what you do with your life. But if you don't, and if you use it for something bad like cyberbullying, then it's not a good thing.
What do you think the world will be like in 2029?I think technology will have more of an impact on the world then because it's kind of like an uprising. People are getting more and more involved in tech, especially with Fortnite. It will definitely develop quite a bit, you'll end up having nanophones or holograms because it's advancing at a rapid pace.
What do you think the impact of Fortnite is?Addiction. People not wanting to go outside and just wanting to play Fortnite with their friends and trying to get as many wins and being competitive. It does have some positives, but not many.
Florence
Wants to be: drummer in a band, or an artist Most-used technology: TV/computer/iPad
What do you use technology for?I use my iPad for watching videos and contacting my family on emails and also research for homework and stuff.
Where do you watch videos?YouTube.
What sort of videos do you watch?Not gaming ones – challenges and stuff like that.
Do you have a favourite YouTuber?Yeah, I like Joe Sugg.
What about your computer, what do you use that for?I use my computer mainly for research and doing homework, because it's just much more efficient for homework I think.
What do you think the world will be like in 2029?I think it will change but I don't think it will change a lot. I think phones will be a lot more advanced. The internet will be much easier to use and I think everything will work much quicker.
What’s your biggest fear for the future?Probably war and politics going a bit crazy.
Do you think that's likely to happen?Yeah. It's likely, but I don’t think it will happen. I think they'll take care of it because it's their job and they should.
Meliz
Wants to be: vet Most-used technology: phone/Xbox
What do you use your phone for?Watching YouTube and texting my friends
What do you watch on YouTube?Gaming and challenges – like 'Try not to stop dancing' and 'Try not to look away'
Which games do you like?Five nights at Freddy's – that's a horror game; Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing; and Bendy and the Ink Machine. I play a lot of phone games as well, like Geometry Dash, My Talking Angela, Gacha Life and Gachaverse – anime games.
So you're a big gamer?Yeah.
What about social media, do you use that?No, I'm not allowed it until I'm 12 or 13.
Do you want to use it?I want to use Instagram and Snapchat. My mum said, 'Maybe when you're 11 and in secondary [school] because you're too young now'.
Why do you want to use them?I just see all my cousins using them. My mum lets me use her Snapchat sometimes because you get the filters – they're really good. I take pictures and then you get to be a bunny or a dog, it's really fun.
Do you talk to people when you’re gaming?I only talk to my friends. If I'm talking to someone I don't know, if they ask me something about the game, like “How do you do this?” I'll tell them, but if they ask like “Where do you live?” I won't tell them anything like that.
Is there any technology you wish would be invented?I think a new invention would be if you had a printer, and then you printed out a piece of paper with, say, toast on it, and then you put it through the printer and then you get the food – that would be cool.
Vincent
Wants to be: video game maker Most-used technology: PS4/tablet
How long do you spend each day playing videogames?I'm allowed on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So I think I have two hours on Monday, two hours on Wednesday, and then Saturday and Sunday it depends.
What do you use a computer for?Sometimes I write stories. I like to do coding as well. And that's how I play Fortnite and all my games.
What sort of coding do you do?C#. I try to make games but they're not that good, they're just simple ones, like platformers.
What was the last game you made?Basically there were different platforms and you were a ball and you had to roll onto other ones.
How did you learn to code?YouTube tutorials.
What's your biggest fear for the future?That people will stop playing Fortnite so I will just be that one guy who plays on his own. I'm scared that there'll be a new game that my parents won't let me get, and then everyone's playing it and I'm just that one person where everyone's asking me 'Do you play that new game?' and I'm like 'No.'
Does that happen with some people now?I remember a long time ago we used to play Minecraft and then it became not fun any more, people started not liking it any more. Then we went onto Fortnite. Soon there's going to be another game – well, there kind of already is, because there's [Call of Duty:] Black Ops 4, which is a bit better than Fortnite, so people are stopping playing it and starting playing the new game.
Do you play Black Ops 4?No, because it's an 18.
Uma
Wants to be: artist Most-used technology: iPad
What do you use the iPad for?Normally playing games or watching TV. I kind of get games and then I play them once and then I don't really like them anymore. I like challenge games.
What do you use a computer for?Sometimes homework, and I like doing drawing on technology because you can just do anything and then you can rub it out. I use computers for that. I like colourful, geometric drawings.
Do you use social media?No I don't, because I don't really have a phone. But I know my brother does, he uses Instagram. He's 13. I would probably use it when I get a phone – probably next year, because I'm going to go to secondary school.
Do you think social media is a good thing or a bad thing?I think it's both, because you can get cyberbullied and stuff, and you can also have fun on it.
What's your biggest fear for the future?That everything will go wrong. You know like global warming and stuff? Maybe because of that, lots of things will stop, and it will be harder to use everything and to live life.
Muhe
Wants to be: not sure Most-used technology: Nintendo Switch
What games do you play on the Nintendo Switch?Fortnite a bit and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I share one with my brothers but mainly I use it.
Do you have your own phone?No, but I borrow my mum's, usually to check the weather and stuff, maybe do a vote – I subscribe to a magazine [The Week Junior] and they have a 'big debate' in it, so I vote which side I think, and I play a few games. Sometimes I play chess.
Do you use social media?I text a friend who just left the school because we're leaving the European Union. I'm hoping that he'll friend me on Fortnite so we can chat more often.
Do you think social media is a good thing or a bad thing?Sometimes it can be bad. Sometimes people use bad language when they text in game chat. It's good when you have a friend there and you can talk to them.
What do you think the world will be like in 2029?Maybe a few more inventions. Reading, I heard about a lot of new inventions – they made edible cups and hoverbikes, and I heard they released a flying taxi and a robot cleaner.
What's your biggest worry about the future?People using bad language at me and cyberbullying. It's happened to me once, someone told me I was a rubbish. When I joined a Minecraft server they just literally texted that as soon as I got in. That's the only time I think someone has said that to me.
Enoch
Wants to be: not sure Most-used technology: phone/tablet
What do you think of when you think about technology?I think of social media and online shopping. Nowadays instead of walking or driving to the shops people would go online. I think of social media, because every time you see someone walking, they're on social media, just looking down, scrolling.
What do you use your phone for?I normally watch videos. It’s not very new, it's an S3 [Galaxy S3], and I don't post things because I'm really aware of my personal details and stuff.
What do you think the world will be like in 2029?Instead of getting coal to make electricity, we will use renewable like wind, the sun and water. Also, all electronics could be controlled by voice command. Instead of having to turn it on or off you could say "Something, turn on".
Most medical stuff will use technology, for instance they'll be able to detect things quicker by using technology. Say if you have cancer or malaria, instead of waiting for it to go through the phases, they'll just scan you and then you could know that you have cancer or not so you can start your treatment sooner.
What's your biggest concern for the future?Becoming too reliable on technology. People just stay at home, you won't really get to know anyone properly, you'll just know them through social media.
Mohammed
Wants to be: footballer Most-used technology: phone (his mum’s)
What do you think about when you think about technology?I think about big cities, floating cities.
Wow. Is that what you think the future will be like? What would it look like?Like, hover cars.
What do you use your phone for?Watching YouTube.
What do you watch?Fortnite.
What do you like about Fortnite?It keeps you busy.
Are you good at it?No, not really.
Do you have a favourite YouTuber?LazarBeam. He plays Fortnite.
Why do you like to watch other people play Fortnite?I see what's their strategy and stuff.
What do you think the world will be like in 2029?I think there's going to be like a [football] stadium that's going to be bigger. It might be a bit different, the looks of it. I think it might be a bit bigger and the ball will have a different design. It might have, like, different footballs on it.
What are your biggest fears for the future? Robots. I've watched lots of movies about robots turning on the world. I know there's already some robots in the world that China's made. I think that's going to be the leader of the thing.
Maya
Wants to be: pop singer Most-used technology: TV
What do you think about when you think about technology?I think it's really cool, but also you sometimes have to play a bit, because it can make you a bit grumpy if you go on it for too long. But it's also really useful.
Do you have your own phone?Yeah, but I don't really use it. I sometimes forget about it because I'm just playing, but sometimes I like to text my friends.
Are you on social media?No. I don't know any person who has it in my class, any of my friends - so then there's no point using it.
What do you think is the bad side of technology?Sometimes if you go on it for too long it can make you a bit moody. And sometimes if you've been on it too long it can make your eyes hurt. I just go on it sometimes, on Fridays and the weekend.
What do you think the world will be like in 2029?I already know that in Dubai there's hovering motorbikes for police so probably there'll be lots of hovering things, because they're already making them. I think it's cool. I drew this thing where there's aliens and there's all kinds of hovering stuff, like even the signs were hovering – you know on the roads you have those white lines? Even those were hovering.
What's your biggest fear for the future?I think if maybe you use too much of – you know what makes electricity? You use too much of it and then you probably won't run out, but it pollutes the world.
Cyrus
Wants to be: lawyer Most-used technology: PS4
What do you play on PS4?Fortnite.
What do you like about Fortnite?It's fun to play with your friends and talk to them. It wouldn't be as fun without your friends. Also, I can’t really explain it – but, like, shooting people. Mostly playing with your friends, though.
How do your parents use technology?Texting. My mum has no idea about any of it, we have to always update her phone and tell her what to do. She just uses it to text and social media.
Is there anything you wish would be invented that doesn't exist yet?A self-making food machine. You put in a food you want and it just makes it.
What's your biggest worry about the future?Global warming, because I like polar bears and penguins and other animals.
What do you think we can do to stop global warming?Solar panels and stop making factories, and cycle a lot.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
