Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015 (Pew Article)

Lenhart, A. (2015, April 9). Teens, social media & technology overview 2015: Smartphones facilitate shifts in communication landscape for teens. Retrieved October 24, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/04/PI_TeensandTech_Update2015_0409151.pdf

It is no surprise that the continual advancement of technology changes how people do things. I think technology has had the greatest impact on teens. The Pew Research Center continues to enlighten us on how technology has had an impact on all of our lives. This time the report I read dealt with how smartphones have facilitated Internet use among teens.

The research conducted by the Pew Research Center consisted of 1,060 teens that were ages 13 to 17 both male and female, from various ethnic backgrounds, and various socio-economic backgrounds. The team at the Pew Research Center understands that teens prefer technology so the study was conducted online instead of their usual method of gathering data which is an over the phone interview. The study revealed that most teens go online using mobile devices especially smartphones. This is due to the convenience and constant access to the internet that these devices provide. Out of the 1,060 teens surveyed 92% of them report going online daily with 56% reporting they go online several times a day as opposed to 12% who report they go online only once-a-day and 6% reporting going online weekly. According to the article, smartphones and other mobile devices have become the primary driver of teen internet use. I have to agree with the researchers, I believe that teens are always on the Internet now because they are carrying the Internet in their pockets. If smartphones and other mobile devices did not exist teens would not have the Internet at their fingertips unless they were at home or school. I believe having easy access to the Internet for teens is important especially for homework, but I feel that having easy access to the Internet from their phone is not always a good thing. Some teens are using the Internet too much because it is so easy to access from their devices. The study also reported that teens that do not go online from their mobile devices go online less than those who do.

The research also found that social media use is prominent because of the easy accessibility given to teens using mobile devices. From the prominent social media platforms it was found that Facebook is the most popular. The study stated, “Facebook remains the most used social media site among American teens ages 13 to 17 with 71% of all teens using the site. The use of the other social media sites is as follows:

·         Instagram 52%

·         Snapchat 41%

·         Twitter 33%

·         Google+ 33%

·         Vine 24%

·         Tumblr 14%

·         Different social media site 11%

The study also found that older teens ages 15 to 17 are mostly likely to use Facebook than teens ages 13 to 14. It was found that younger teens ages 13 to 14 are more likely to use Instagram. I feel that this occurs because younger teens are barely getting permission from their parents to use social media so parents feel that Instagram is a good place to get them started. Plus I feel that Instagram is easier to use than Facebook and this might be appealing to younger teens.

The study not only found that teens access the Internet more through their smartphones, but the study also found that because of smartphones the way teens communicate has changed. The research found that 90% of the teens in this study use their phones to send text messages. On average it was found that teens send and receive at least 30 texts per day. Not only are teens using their phones for texting they are downloading and using messaging apps like Kik and WhatsApp. I understand that texting is so much easier, but I also miss the regular phone calls. I just feel like as much as I enjoy and appreciate technology, teens and adults alike are deviating from human interaction which is so necessary. The only regular phone calls I have on a daily basis are the calls to my parents because they strongly believe that a phone call is a thousand times better than a text message and I appreciate that.  

One thing is certain and that is that technology is here to stay. Teens will continue to embrace it and use it and as adults we need to learn to keep up with it.

Pew Reading Total For This Article: 47 pages

Current Total Pew Readings: 62 pages