Reviewing “Social Media and Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults”

Reviewing “Social Media and Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults”

Original report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project

The article title is pretty self-explanatory. The report focuses on Internet use and devices among tweens/teens, when compared with older adults. The findings of this report were not all that surprising. Below, I covered some of the basics of the report as well as a few surprising bits of information. Enjoy!


According to the report, the number of teens who blog is decreasing and messaging through social networking is increasing among that same group. In contrast, adults are beginning to blog at higher numbers. However, as teens grow older, they become more likely to return to blogging. It appears that adults are searching for more substantial ways to participate in sharing ideas through the Internet.

 Back to social networking, it turns out the number of young people who actively use a social networking and/or micro blog is growing. However, Twitter is used only among a small age range of young users (15-17) with very young users (12-14) avoiding the this format. Micro blogging sites, like Twitter, are typically used by teenagers 14-17. It is not surprising that teenagers have embraced Twitter. The site allows users to post quick messages. This can and does appeal to a generation of Internet users that values quick information. By sharing quick messages, teens make more connections.

 Adults are using social networking sites at higher numbers than before. Facebook remains the most common social networking site among those available for both adults and teens. Myspace coming in second across the board.

 While a majority of teens have a Facebook or similar social networking site, they are not likely to be active in commenting and participating in messaging. The only exception here is commenting on pictures and/or commenting on a friend’s wall.

 On another note, virtual worlds have steady attracted younger teens. The percentage of users who report regularly visiting virtual worlds has remained at 8% over the last few years.

 The report goes on to say that teenagers use laptops and portable electronic devices to get online more so than desktop computers. These “millennials” ages of 18-29 prefer mobile devices in contrast with older adults that tend to use desktop computers. These mobile devices can and do include gaming consoles and cell phones. 

Internet usage has increased among teens years 12-17 and young adults 18-29. These groups are among those who are online at the highest percentage. No surprise here. Interestingly, Internet usage among younger teens seems to increases specifically between the ages of 12 and 13.

 Teens and adults connect to the Internet using different connections. Some more common means of connection are the cable modem, DSL-phone line, and a wireless connection. Most teenagers connect multiple times to the Internet in a single day. These teens access the Internet on a regular basis and from different devices. Age does not play a large factor in Internet usage, but rather Internet speed does affect usage. Those who accessed the Internet using a broadband connection were among those that accessed the Internet more frequently.

Moreover, education and ethnic background also influence Internet usage among adults. People who were of a better economic and educational background reported the highest usage among adults. The next part of the report focuses on the types of electronics that people use to connect to the Internet. Depending on age, a person typically owns between 1- 4 electronic devices. Starting at age 12, most teens (58%) own a cell phone. As the average age increases, so does the percentage of teens that own a cell phone. By age 17, 83% of teens reported owning a cell phone. Between adults that reported owning a cell phone, the highest percentage of cell phone owners was those 30 and younger. Laptops are the preferred device for young adult users (14-17) those who are younger (12-17) typically use MP3 devices more frequently. Older adults have begun to use MP3 players as well.

A growing number of teenagers (12-17) do own a gaming console of some type. Teenagers are also more likely to use a gaming device on a regular basis than those who are over the age of 30. Likewise, men are more likely than women to own a gaming console. I am not sure why this is the case, but in my experience, males do tend to look to gaming consoles for Internet connection and entertainment. About half of teens own a portable gaming device of some kind. This includes the Nintendo DS system, PSP portable device, or any kind of portable gaming device. Adult are much less likely to own a portable gaming device when compared with teens.

 On the other hand, adults look to the computer more than any other device to work off of and connect to the Internet. Socioeconomic issues also affect the device and average access of the user. As stated earlier, adults are beginning to use social networking sites at a high rate, but participation in social media sites such as Facebook varies on the age of the adult. In addition, adults are increasing posting on these social media sites.

 Next, the report begins focusing on the actual activities teenagers engage in while online. Teenagers participate in sharing photos, videos, drawings, and other created content at a percentage of 38%. Similarly, adults are beginning to share content at a high rate. Teenagers are searching for health and dieting information online, but not at the same rate as that of adults. The percentage of teenagers who search for health information is at 31%, while adult searches for health related topics is at 72%. In addition to health searches, teenagers use the Internet to purchase items. Most teens that regularly buy items online are better off from a socioeconomic standpoint.

Teens also look to the Internet for news. Again, here we see a connection between accessing the Internet for news and varying economic backgrounds.

 The majority of this information was collected from surveys such as the 2009 Parent-Teen Cell Phone Survey and a daily tracking survey on Americans’ use of the Internet. Interviews conducted with parents and children were only included if the report was complete.

 The full report can be found at http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2010/PIP_Social_Media_and_Young_Adults_Report_Final_with_toplines.pdf

 51 pages covered

 Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A., & Zickuhr, K. (2010, February 3). Social Media and Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults. . Retrieved June 24, 2014, fromhttp://www.pewinternet.org/files/oldmedia//Files/Reports/2010/PIP_Social_ Media_and_Young_Adults_Report_Final_with_toplines.pdf.