The Pew Research Center has just released Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015 written by Amanda Lenhart,
From the Report:
24% of teens go online “almost constantly,” facilitated by the widespread availability of smartphones
Aided by the convenience and constant access provided by mobile devices, especially smartphones, 92% of teens report going online daily — including 24% who say they go online “almost constantly,” according to a new study from Pew Research Center. More than half (56%) of teens — defined in this report as those ages 13 to 17 — go online several times a day, and 12% report once-a-day use. Just 6% of teens report going online weekly, and 2% go online less often.
Much of this frenzy of access is facilitated by mobile devices. Nearly three-quarters of teens have or have access1 to a smartphone and 30% have a basic phone, while just 12% of teens 13 to 17 say they have no cell phone of any type. African-American teens are the most likely of any group of teens to have a smartphone, with 85% having access to one, compared with 71% of both white and Hispanic teens. These phones and other mobile devices have become a primary driver of teen internet use: Fully 91% of teens go online from mobile devices at least occasionally. Among these “mobile teens,” 94% go online daily or more often. By comparison, teens who don’t access the internet via mobile devices tend to go online less frequently. Some 68% go online at least daily.
African-American and Hispanic youth report more frequent internet use than white teens. Among African-American teens, 34% report going online “almost constantly” as do 32% of Hispanic teens, while 19% of white teens go online that often.
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Facebook remains the most used social media site among American teens ages 13 to 17 with 71% of all teens using the site, even as half of teens use Instagram and four-in-ten use Snapchat.
Some Additional Highlights
- 71% of teens use more than one social network site
- Middle and upper income teens lean toward Instagram and Snapchat
- Some 88% of teens have or have access to cell phones or smartphones and 90% of those teens with phones exchange texts. A typical teen sends and receives 30 texts per day
- Some 73% of teens have access to smartphones and among them messaging apps like Kik or WhatsApp have caught on.
- Teenage girls use social media sites and platforms — particularly visually-oriented ones — for sharing more than their male counterparts do.
- 33% of American Teens Use Twitter
- Typical Twitter-using Teens Have 95 Twitter Followers
- A Typical Teen Sends and Receives 30 Texts a Day
- 71% of Teens Play Video Games; Rises to 83% of Teen Boys
Direct to Full Text Report ||| Direct to PDF Version of Report
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