Teens Just Don’t Blog or Tweet [STATS]

A new study published today by Pew Internet finds that teens and young adults are blogging less and using social networking sites more, with the prominent exception of Twitter.
Pew’s Report surveyed 2,253 American adults and 800 U.S. teens to get a reading of how they use the internet, which gadgets they own, and which social media tools they use the most.
Some of the data will surprise you.
The Internet’s Everywhere
Here’s a no-brainer: young adults use the web far more than older adults. In its study, Pew found that 93% of teens and young adults go online, compared to only 38% of adults over 65 years of age. It surprises us that 7% of 12-29 year olds still don’t browse the web, but some just don’t have or can afford access.

Among those teens going online, 63% say they go online at least once a day, with older teens more likely to go online than younger teens.
Most are connecting with high-speed connections as well. 76% of families with teenage children have broadband connections, while 10% still use dial-up, 8% have no computer, and 4% have a computer but no Internet access. For comparison, 49% of families used dial-up in 2004.
The Internet’s getting faster and more accessible. As computer prices drop and Internet access becomes more readily available, we should see these Internet usage numbers continue to rise.
The Laptop Is More Popular than the Desktop
In terms of gadgets, more teenagers have cell phones (76%) than a computer (69%). More than half of 12 year olds own a mobile phone, while a rather impressive 83% of teenagers carry a cell phone in their pockets. That number only rises with age — a full 93% of 18-29 year olds own a cell phone.
The mobile trend even continues into the computing realm: laptops have overtaken the desktop for those under 30. 66% of adults 18-29 own a laptop, while 53% own a desktop. Other interesting trends: males are more likely to own a cell phone, income dramatically affects computer ownership but not cell phone ownership, and race is a non-factor when it comes to the percentage of adults using cell phones.

Teens Just Don’t Blog. Or Tweet.
As you might have guessed, Pew found that teens are avid social networkers: 73% of 12-17 year olds, in fact. They are posting pictures, commenting on status updates, and sending IMs.
What they aren’t doing much of, though, is blogging and tweeting.
Pew’s study finds that blogging has dramatically decreased in popularity with the younger crowed since 2006, where 28% of teens reported that they were bloggers. Now that number has dropped to just 14%. Interestingly enough, lower income households (under $50,000) report more blogging than higher income ones. With Facebook, Twitter, and other social tools to keep your friends updated about your life, blogging just isn’t as necessary.
Perhaps we shouldn’t include Twitter in that list of social media tools teens use, though. As we’ve reported on multiple occasions, teens don’t tweet, and Pew’s numbers don’t disagree with that assertion:

Yes, only 8% of teens use Twitter, remarkably small when compared to most social networks. Only one in ten high schoolers use Twitter. Among this small group though, the girls are more likely to be microblogging: 13% of 14-17 year old girls reported using the service.
Conclusions: Teens Aren’t Heavy Content Creators
First, it’s important to note that most of this data was taken from September 2009. A lot changes in social media in a five month period.
With that said though, the trends seem clear: teens love to be online, but they’re not terribly interested in writing blog posts or maintaining a stream of tweets. Creating content takes time and energy that they’d rather exert on Facebook, texting, YouTube, or other online activities. And of course, they have school and friends.
Let’s face it: teenagers haven’t had the time to build up expertise, life experiences, or a career that would merit content creation. Without that expertise, less people are inclined to listen to what they have to say, and without that knowledge, teenagers have less to talk about.
As my colleague Barb Dybwad also brings up, a teenager’s social circle is far smaller and more closely defined than an adult’s network. Perhaps this is why more closed networks like Facebook are more appealing to teenagers than Twitter, which is a completely public experience. Blogging was a more intimate experience a few years back, which could also explain why more teens have abandoned personal blogs over the last few years.
Combined, it means that Twitter just might not be for the average teenager. Let us know what you think in the comments.
Tags: blogging, internet, Pew, stats, study, teens, twitter



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