What Are Teens Doing Online?

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February 18, 2014
Teens on Social Media95% of U.S. teens use the internet.How Do Teens Get Online?
Source: Pew Research Center, teens aged 12-17 in 2012

74% of teens are mobile internet users and 37% of all teens have smartphones, up from just 23% in 2011.
93% of teens have a computer or have access to one at home. Seven in ten (71%) teens with home computer access say the laptop or desktop they use most often is one they share with other family members.

Where Do Teens Go Online?

Source: Survata survey of teenagers ages 13-17, in 2013
“Teens want a space of their own. … The thing you see when you look at what’s driving them is, how do you hang out with the people that matter to them and not have to put up with the people that drive them crazy?” –Danah Boyd, principal researcher, Microsoft Research

What Do Teens Do Online?
Source: Pew Research Center, teens aged 12-17 in 2012

91 percent post photos of themselves on social, up 79 percent from 2011.

24 percent post videos.

92 percent show their real name to the profile they use most often
82 percent their birthdays
53 percent their email address

Do They Care about Privacy?

60% of teen Facebook users set their Facebook profiles to private (friends only).. and  56% of teen Facebook users say it’s “not difficult at all” to manage the privacy controls on their Facebook profile.

Kids today have less mobility than they have historically. … The kinds of trouble that we may have had when we were running around with our friends is now taking place in a very traceable, very persistent environment. So we have to recognize that that changes the dynamics.” –Danah Boyd, principal researcher, Microsoft Research


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