Any parent who is despairing over kids constantly checking out their mobile phones won’t want to hear these numbers. A recent research report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet, Science and Tech unit indicates that 91% of U.S. teens venture online via their mobile devices at least occasionally while on the move; and 94% of those go online daily or more frequently.
According to the study, smartphones are a big facilitator in bumping up Internet usage numbers. In fact, 73% of U.S. teens surveyed have a smartphone.
So what are they doing? Here are a few highlights of what the study shows:
- 89% of teens use at least 1 of 7 social media sites specified (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, Google+ and Vine), while 71% said they use 2 or more.
- 91% of teen cell phone owners text via their phones or an app or website; one-third use text messaging apps such as Kik or WhatsApp. (It also turns out more girls than boys use text messaging apps. Surprised?)
- 22% of teens use online scrapbooks such as Pinterest and Polyvore,with girls again beating out the boys.
- 17% said they read or comment on discussion boards such as Reddit or Digg.
- 72% of teens play video games on their mobile phones (84% of boys and 59% of girls)
- 47% of teens use video calling or chat services such as Skype, Oovoo, Facetime or Omegle.
This article by Andrew Burger for telecompetitor breaks out the report numbers quite nicely.
While we talk a lot about homeowners and business owners when it comes to Cel-Fi products, don’t forget that your teens rely just as much as we do – if not more – on having good indoor cellular coverage. After all, keeping the lines of communication open with your kids, whatever the channel of choice, is always a good thing.
By the Cel-Fi Team