Does it seem like your teen is always on his or her smartphone?
That just might be true, according to this new study by the Pew Research Center. The “Teens, Social Media and Technology Overview for 2015” shows quite a few intriguing patterns among youth, one of the most important findings being that nearly a quarter of teens say that they are online “almost constantly.”
“Aided by the convenience and constant access provided by mobile devices, especially smartphones, 92 percent of teens report going online daily — including 24 percent who say they go online ‘almost constantly,’ ” states the Pew study. “More than half (56 percent) of teens — defined in this report as those ages 13 to 17 — go online several times a day, and 12 percent report once-a-day use. Just 6 percent of teens report going online weekly, and 2 percent go online less often.”
Pew reports that nearly three-quarters of teens have a smartphone or access to one. African-Americans are the most likely to have a smartphone at 85 percent, with 71 percent of white and Hispanic teens having access to one. “Fully 91 percent of teens go online from mobile devices at least occasionally. Among these ‘mobile teens,’ 94 percent go online daily or more often,” the study found.
So where are these teens spending their time? Facebook is still king, despite the worry of waning numbers among youth, especially with the introduction of other social sites, including Snapchat and Instagram. Pew found that 71 percent of teens use Facebook, with more than half using Instagram and only about 40 percent using Snapchat.
Pew notes that this is the first study that was conducted online vs. by the phone. While researchers say the results should be similar, they aren’t citing previous years’ findings due to the difference in the data collection, but say the results should still be “comparable.”
The Pew comprehensive study has a ton of other fascinating facts: More boys than girls say they use Facebook regularly (45 percent vs. 36 percent; boys are more likely to be gaming while girls are more “visually” focused); middle and upper income teens “lean toward Instagram and Snapchat”; and texting is an extremely important method of communication — the “typical teen sends and receives 30 texts per day.”
Whether you have a teen or not, or are just trying to better understand their world, this Pew study is a must-read.
