Teens Survey Mobile Social Media

Making sense of the blurred line between offline and online

We’ve all seen groups of teens walking down the street listening to music, text messaging or talking on their cell phones. Or maybe doing all three at once.
 
What truly amazes me is that teens continue to carry on live conversations as they are interacting with other media. When it comes to social interaction, the line between actual lives and digital lives has become increasingly blurred.

Earlier this week, Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project, introduced a new report, “Teens in the Digital Age,” at the 2009 NCTI Technology Innovators Conference. The report found that teen use of digital media is highly interactive.

•    97 percent of teens play video or computer games.
•    93 percent of teens use the Internet.
•    75 percent of teens have cell phones.
•    75 percent of teens view videos on video-sharing sites.
•    73 percent of teens use social networks.
•    68 percent of teens use instant messaging.

As you can see, the report finds that teenagers use the Internet and mobile devices in a social capacity — they go online to express themselves and share their thoughts and opinions.

These findings validate what we have seen with a client project we helped develop for Best Buy called @15, a platform to connect with teens by listening to what they have to say, give voice to their perspectives, and support their efforts to lead social change. In order to reach young people, you must meet them where they are – online.