Social Media & Mobile Internet Use among Teens and Young Adults

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Social Media & Mobile Internet Use among Teens and Young Adults

Amanda Lenhart
Kristen Purcell
Aaron Smith
Kathryn Zickuhr

Abstract

Since 2006, blogging has dropped among teens and young adults while simultaneously rising among older adults. As the tools and technology embedded in social networking sites change, and use of the sites continues to grow, youth may be exchanging “macro blogging” for microblogging with status updates. Blogging has declined in popularity among both teens and young adults since 2006. Blog commenting has also dropped among teens. This report brings together recent findings about internet and social media use among young adults by situating it within comparable data for adolescents and adults older than 30. All the most current data on teens is drawn from a survey the authors conducted between June 26 and September 24, 2009 of 800 adolescents between ages 12 and 17. Most of the adult data are drawn from a survey they conducted between August 18 and September 14, 2009 of 2,253 adults (age 18 and over).

Keywords

Web Sites, Electronic Publishing, Young Adults, Adolescents, Internet, Handheld Devices, Social Networks, Generational Differences, Adults, Age Differences, Comparative Analysis, Influence of Technology, Computer Mediated Communication, Telephone Surveys, Computer Use, Use Studies, Behavior Change, Gender Differences, Racial Differences, Laptop Computers, Telecommunications

Annotation

Using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to communicate with college students is a natural fit as Internet use is almost ubiquitous among young adults (18-29). 93% of young adults use the Internet and they, as well as teens, continue to be the two groups most likely to go online. Of those young adults that are online, 72% use social media and 52% have two or more profiles. Of those that have profiles, 71% have Facebook profiles.

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