A new study from the ever-interesting Pew Internet & American Life Project explores the emerging behaviors and perspectives of teens on-line (lots of media coverage available, on ClickZ or through AP feeds…the full report is available on-line, as well).
As you might expect, a large majority of teens use the Internet (87 percent, up from 73 percent in 2000). More than half go on-line daily, and half of families with teens have broadband access at home.
Of particular interest, however, is the apparent decline of e-mail as the favored means of connection, and the continuing emergence of instant messaging. Says the report:
Teens who participated in focus groups for this study said that they view email as something you use to talk to “old people,” institutions, or to send complex instructions to large groups. When it comes to casual written conversation, particularly when talking with friends, online instant messaging is the clearly the mode of choice for today’s online teens.
But for those in the business of social connection and face-time (like the lively arts, or object-based art), there is a slight ray of hope for our future in the physical world.
Even with their great affection for technology, teens still report, on average, spending more time physically with their friends doing social things outside of school than they report interacting with friends through technology. An average youth between ages 12-17 reports spending 10.3 hours a week with friends doing social activities outside of school and about 7.8 hours talking with friends via technology like the telephone, email, IM or text messaging.
If you don’t have a teen of your own, you might want to borrow one from a friend to watch how the next generation of audiences manages their personal and institutional connections.
