“How Do [They] Even Do That?” Myths & Facts about the impact of technology on the lives of American teens Amanda Lenhart/Pew Internet Holtz Center for Science & Technology Studies April 2011 Madison, WI
Nov 11, 2014
“How Do [They] Even Do That?” Myths & Facts about the impact
of technology on the lives of American teens
Amanda Lenhart/Pew InternetHoltz Center for
Science & Technology StudiesApril 2011
Madison, WI
Methods
• 800 teens ages 12 to 17 and a parent or guardian were contacted by landline or cellular telephone in a nationally representative rdd survey conducted from June to September 2009.
• 9 focus groups in four cities with middle and high school aged teens (ages 12-18) conducted in June and October 2009
• Joint project of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the University of Michigan.
• Data from adult surveys from Sept 2009 & January 2010
June 2010 2
Why is this important?
• Teens are like canaries…• …Their enthusiastic and often
transgressive use of technology highlights risks to all of us in our use of technology.
• Not short adults• Policy/legal interest
June 2010 3Photo credit: Arno & Louise Wildlife
How do they do that – or do they?
Commonly held beliefs about teens, young adults and technology:• Everyone uses the internet• Every teen has a cell phone…• … and all teens text unimaginably large numbers of messages a
day• Teens no longer call anyone on the phone• Parents and K-12 schools struggle with management of teens’
phones• Teens have been supplanted by older adults on social networks• Teens love Twitter• Young adults don’t care about privacy, particularly online• Teens are active creators of content online
June 2010 4
EVERYONE USES THE INTERNET
June 2010 5
04/08/23 9
04/08/23 10
EVERY TEEN & YOUNG ADULT HAS A CELL PHONE…
May 2010 13
04/08/23 14
04/08/23 16
…AND THEY SEND AND RECEIVE AN UNIMAGINABLY LARGE NUMBER OF TEXTS EVERY DAY.
May 2010 17
04/08/23 18
04/08/23 19
04/08/23 20
04/08/23 21
TEENS NO LONGER MAKE PHONE CALLS.
May 2010 22
04/08/23 23
04/08/23 24
04/08/23 25
04/08/23 26
04/08/23 27
04/08/23 28
04/08/23 29
04/08/23 30
Teens who pay for phone costs are more likely to do more with cell phone
PARENTS AND SCHOOLS STRUGGLE WITH MANAGEMENT OF TEENS’ CELL PHONES
May 2010 31
Title of presentation May 2010 32
04/08/23 33
04/08/23 34
04/08/23 35
04/08/23 36
04/08/23 37
TEENS & YOUNG ADULTS HAVE BEEN SUPPLANTED BY OLDER ADULTS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS
04/08/23 38
TEENS LOVE TWITTER
May 2010 44
Title of presentation
YOUNG ADULTS DON’T CARE ABOUT THEIR PRIVACY, ESPECIALLY ONLINE
04/08/23 48
May 2010 49
04/08/23 50
Thinking about the ways you use social networking sites… Do you ever…
All SNS users 18-29 30-49 50+
Change the privacy settings for your profile to limit what you share with others online 65 71 62 52
Delete people from your network or friends’ list 56 64 52 42
Keep some people from seeing certain updates 52 58 52 36
Filter updates posted by some of your friends 41 44 43 27
Delete comments that others have made on your profile 36 47 29 24
Remove your name from photos that have been tagged to identify you 30 41 24 16
Post updates, comments, photos or videos that you later regret sharing 12 19 9 4
Social networking users are curators of content
TEENS CREATE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF CONTENT ONLINE
Final Thoughts
• Cell phones leap frog connectivity roadblocks for low income, minority teens and adults
• Teens and young adults are not monolithic – so a multi-pronged approach is prudent
• Changes suggest a move towards mobile…• …but teens and young adults do not always embrace the newest
thing• Young adults know that people are watching, and are increasingly
taking steps to manage their online reputations• Difficulties teens have with safety, privacy, audience management
are hard for adults, too.
04/08/23 57
Title of presentation 04/08/23 58
Amanda LenhartPew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Projecthttp://pewinternet.org@amanda_lenhart
photo by arcticpenguin