Teens, Technology, and Friendships

Teens, Technology, and Friendship

Lenhart, A. (2015).  Teens, technology and friendships.  Retrieved from: Pew Center Research.

 This report explored the new contours of friendship in the digital age. It covers the results of a national survey of teens ages 13 to 17.  According to Pew Research:

·         57% of All today’s teens have made new friends online. 

·         29% of these teens admitting they have met more than 5 friends online.

·         Boys are more likely than girls to make online friends 61% of boys compared to 52% of girls have made friends online.  Girls who have met new friends online are more likely to meet them via social media (78% vs. 52% of boys), while boys are substantially more likely to meet new friends while playing games online (57% vs. 13% of girls)

·         Older teens are more likely to make friends than younger teens- 60% of teens between the ages of 15-17 have made friends online. 

·         Texting is a huge component of socializing in a teen’s world- 55% of teens spend their time texting.  Texting is the most common way they communicate with close friends

·         Only 25% of teens spend time with friends face to face.

Here is a list of how teens communicate with their friends:

Instant messaging: 79% of all teens instant message their friends.

Social media: 72% of all teens spend time with friends via social media.

Email: 64% of all teens use email with friends.

Video chat: 59% of all teens video chat with their friends.

Video games: 52% of all teens spend time with friends playing video games.

Messaging apps: 42% of all teens spend time with friends on messaging apps such as Kik and WhatsApp.

How Teens Hang Out and Stay in Touch With Their Closest Friends:

At School-83%

Someone’s house-58%

Online-55%

Sports, club (extracurricular activity)-45%

Neighborhood-42%

Mall-23%

Church-21%

Job-6%

Other location-5%

 

 76 pages