New Delhi, June 10 (IANS): To succeed in the global economy, where the default is digital, the Indian school students are rapidly adopting to digital lifestyles, a recent study has revealed.

The study TCS GenY Survey 2014-15, was conducted by Tata Consultancy Services.

"Today's high school students lead gadget-rich lifestyles; are heavy internet users; and are active on social media channels to stay well-informed with current affairs and keep in touch with family and friends," revealed the study on Wednesday.

The study, covering 12,365 high school students across 14 Indian cities, revealed that the 'post-millennial' population is very social by nature and over 75 percent spend an hour online every day.

"The need to be constantly aware, always connected and make informed choices is in the basic DNA of the post-millennial students. The TCS GenY Survey findings provide us with essential information to prepare ourselves to provide them with exciting career opportunities," Ajoy Mukherjee, executive vice president & head of global human resources, TCS said.

However, the report said youngsters still consider face-to-face or "in-person" communication as the most preferred way of communicating with friends (36 percent), though 46 percent of the respondents said they digitally stayed in touch using video chat.

"When it comes to Instant messaging, WhatsApp is by far the most popular instant messaging platform (58 percent) followed by SMS (20 percent). Desktops/home PC and laptops are the most popular mode of accessing the internet (55 percent), followed by smart phones (30 percent)," the survey said.