92 per cent US Teens go Online Daily: study

By Gizbot Bureau

| Published: Friday, April 10, 2015, 14:12 [IST]

A staggering 92 per cent of US teens go online daily while 24 per cent are almost constantly glued to the Internet, facilitated by the widespread availability of smartphones, a new Pew research has found.

92 per cent US Teens go Online Daily: study

According to a report from Pew Research Centre, more than half (56 per cent) of teens — in the age group of 13 to 17 — go online several times a day, and 12 per cent report once-a-day use. Just 6 per cent of teens report going online weekly, and 2 per cent go online less often.

Aided by the convenience and constant access provided by mobile devices, especially smartphones, 92 per cent of teens report going online daily - including 24 per cent who say they go online "almost constantly," according to the study.

"Much of this frenzy of access is facilitated by mobile devices," noted Amanda Lenhart, associate director for Research at the Pew Research Centre and the report's lead author.

"Nearly three-quarters of teens have access to a smartphone and 30 per cent have a basic phone, while just 12 per cent of teens 13 to 17 say they have no cellphone of any type," Lenhart wrote in the report.

African-American teens are the most likely of any group of teens to have a smartphone, with 85 per cent having access to one, compared with 71 per cent of both white and Hispanic teens, the report said.

"These phones and other mobile devices have become a primary driver of teen internet use: Fully 91 per cent of teens go online from mobile devices at least occasionally," according to Lenhart.

Among these "mobile teens," 94 per cent go online daily or more often. By comparison, teens who don't access the internet via mobile devices tend to go online less frequently. Some 68 per cent go online at least daily.

Facebook remains the most used social media site among American teens ages 13 to 17 with 71 per cent of all teens using the site, even as half of teens use Instagram and four-in-ten use Snapchat, the report said.

Teens are diversifying their social network site use. A majority of teens - 71 per cent - report using more than one social network site out of the seven platform options they were asked about.

Among the 22 per cent of teens who only use one site, 66 per cent use Facebook, 13 per cent use Google+, 13 per cent use Instagram and 3 per cent use Snapchat.

Source: PTI