Teens and Sexting Findings In a nationally representative survey of those ages 12-17 conducted on landline and cell phones, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found: 4% of cell-owning teens ages 12-17 say they have sent sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of themselves to someone else via text messaging 15% of cell-owning teens ages 12-17 say they have received sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images of someone they know via text messaging on their cell phone. Older teens are much more likely to send and receive these images; 8% of 17-year-olds with cell phones have sent a sexually provocative image by text and 30% have received a nude or nearly nude image on their phone. Introduction: Cell phones are more and more a part of teen life Since the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project first started tracking teen cell phone use, the age at which American teens acquire their first cell phone has consistently grown younger.
Teens and Distracted Driving By Mary Madden and Amanda Lenhart Overview 75% of all American teens ages 12-17 own a cell phone, and 66% use their phones to send or receive text messages.Older teens are more likely than younger teens to have cell phones and use text messaging; 82% of teens ages 16-17 have a cell phone and 76% of that cohort are cell texters.One in three (34%) texting teens ages 16-17 say they have texted while driving. Introduction As early as 2006, and well before texting had become mainstream in the U.S., the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project reported that more than a quarter of adult cell phone owners felt their cell phone had at some point compromised their driving ability. Over time, cell phones have become increasingly important fixtures in Americans’ lives and public concern over their use while driving has grown.
Teens and Mobile Phones Text messaging explodes as teens embrace it as the centerpiece of their communication strategies with friends. The mobile phone has become the favored communication hub for the majority of American teens. Cell-phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends, and cell calling is a close second. Among all teens, their frequency of use of texting has now overtaken the frequency of every other common form of interaction with their friends (see chart below). Fully two-thirds of teen texters say they are more likely to use their cell phones to text their friends than talk to them to them by cell phone. One in three teens sends more than 100 text messages a day, or 3000 texts a month. Daily text messaging by teens to friends has increased rapidly since early 2008. Calling is still a central function of the cell phone for teens and for many teens, voice is the primary mode of conversing with parents. Cell phones are seen as a mixed blessing.
Adults and Cell Phone Distractions Adults and cell phone distractions Adults are just as likely as teens to have texted while driving and are substantially more likely to have talked on the phone while driving. In addition, 49% of adults say they have been passengers in a car when the driver was sending or reading text messages on their cell phone. Overall, 44% of adults say they have been passengers of drivers who used the cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger. Beyond driving, some cell-toting pedestrians get so distracted while talking or texting that they have physically bumped into another person or an object. These are some of the key findings from a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project: Nearly half (47%) of all texting adults say they have sent or read a text message while driving. Introduction and background Cell phones appeal to Americans for many reasons, starting with the benefits of constant connection to family and friends.
Teens, Smartphones & Texting Overview The volume of texting among teens has risen from 50 texts a day in 2009 to 60 texts for the median teen text user. Older teens, boys, and blacks are leading the increase. Texting is the dominant daily mode of communication between teens and all those with whom they communicate. The typical American teen is sending and receiving a greater number of texts than in 2009. The median number of texts (i.e. the midpoint user in our sample) sent on a typical day by teens 12-17 rose from 50 in 2009 to 60 in 2011. The frequency of teens’ phone chatter with friends – on cell phones and landlines – has fallen. Teens’ phone conversations with friends are slipping in frequency. 14% of all teens say they talk daily with friends on a landline, down from 30% who said so in 2009. However, the Pew Internet survey shows that the heaviest texters are also the heaviest talkers. About one in four teens report owning a smartphone. Smartphones are gaining teenage users.
Teens & Online Video Summary 37% of internet users ages 12-17 participate in video chats with others using applications such as Skype, Googletalk or iChat. Girls are more likely than boys to have such chats.27% of internet-using teens 12-17 record and upload video to the internet. One major difference between now and 2006 is that online girls are just as likely these days to upload video as online boys. 13% of internet-using teens stream video live to the internet for other people to watch.Social media users are much more likely than those who do not use social media to engage in all three video behaviors studied. Some 95% of teens 12-17 use the internet, according to a survey of 799 teens conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project between April 19 and July 14, 2011. Video chatting 37% of online teens have video chat conversations with others. Nearly 2 in 5 online teens (37%) say they have video chatted with someone else using applications such as Skype, iChat or Googletalk.
A closer look at generations and cell phone ownership Eighty-five percent of Americans age 18 and older own a cell phone, and one-third (33%) of those who do not own a cell phone live in a household with at least one working mobile phone. This means that overall, overall, 90% of all adults live in a household with at least one working cell phone. These findings are based on a survey of 3,001 American adults (ages 18 and older) conducted between August 9 and September 13, 2010. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish, and the survey included 1,000 cell phone interviews. For more information, including gadget ownership trends over time, please see the main report, “Generations and their gadgets.” Teens Parents, Teens and Digital Monitoring Parents monitor their teen’s digital activities in a number of ways, such as checking browser histories or social media profiles, but using technical means like parental controls is less common. Teens Voices: Dating in the Digital Age From flirting to breaking up, social media and mobile phones are woven into teens’ romantic lives. This interactive essay features teens voices as they describe their experience navigating dating in the digital age. Teens, Technology and Romantic Relationships From heart emojis on Instagram to saying goodbye to a relationship with a text message, digital technology plays an important role in teen relationships. Teens, Technology and Friendships American teens don’t just make friends in the schoolyard or neighborhood — many are finding new friends online. Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015 Smartphones are fueling a shift in the communication landscape for teens. 13 Things to Know About Teens and Technology
Teens' parents and their technology profile The vast majority of parents of online teens have had serious conversations with their kids about online life, the problems associated with it, and ways to navigate those spaces. A majority of parents monitor their kids’ online behavior. Relatively high numbers of parents have become friends with their offspring on social network sites. This is all spurred by the fact that families are saturated with technology. Tech adoption and tech-usage rates by teens’ parents are higher than the general population: 91% of parents of children ages 12-17 own cell phones, and 86% of those cell owners send and receive text messages. Trend Data (Adults) Three major technology revolutions have occurred during the period the Pew Research Center has been studying digital technology – and yet more are on the horizon. Broadband First, the rise of the internet changed the way that people got information and shared it with each other, affecting everything from users’ basic social relationships to the way that they work, learn, and take care of themselves. Mobile Second, mobile connectivity through cell phones, and later smartphones and tablet computers, made any time-anywhere access to information a reality for the vast majority of Americans. Social Third, the rise of social media and social networking has affected the way that people think about their friends, acquaintances, and even strangers.
The tone of life on social networking sites The tone of life on social networking sites The overall social and emotional climate of social networking sites (SNS) is a very positive one where adult users get personal rewards and satisfactions at far higher levels than they encounter anti-social people or have ill consequences from their encounters. A nationally representative phone survey of American adults finds that: 85% of SNS-using adults say that their experience on the sites is that people are mostly kind, compared with 5% who say people they observe on the sites are mostly unkind and another 5% who say their answer depends on the situation. 68% of SNS users said they had an experience that made them feel good about themselves. 61% had experiences that made them feel closer to another person. At the same time, notable proportions of SNS users do witness bad behavior on those sites and nearly a third have experienced some negative outcomes from their experiences on social networking sites.
Trust and Privacy Online Trust and privacy online: Why Americans want to rewrite the rules In a season of growing concern about privacy on the Internet, The Pew Internet & American Life Project surveyed 2,117 Americans, 1,017 of whom are Internet users, from May 19 to June 21 about trust and privacy online. Their responses illustrated some fascinating cross currents on these issues. On some major points, though, there is a powerful consistency: The first point is that American Internet users overwhelmingly want the presumption of privacy when they go online. Put users first The vast majority of American Internet users want the privacy playing field tilted towards them and away from online companies. 86% of Internet users are in favor of “opt-in” privacy policies that require Internet companies to ask people for permission to use their personal information. Some users employ guerrilla tactics, but most don’t exploit the privacy-protecting tools that already exist Companies should keep their promises – or else