Eighty-four percent of teenagers own at least one of four devices, including a desktop computer, laptop computer, cell phone or Blackberry. In addition, 45 percent of teens have their own cell phones, said a new report.
The findings were part of a survey on Internet use among teenagers conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which is studying the impact of the Internet on Americans. The number of teenagers who use the Internet has increased 24 percent during the past four years, according to the report.
About 21 million teens use the Internet, with half indicating they access daily the Internet.
“Increasing numbers of teenagers live in a world of nearly ubiquitous computing and communication technologies that they can access at will,” said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the project and co-author of the report. “More and more teens go online frequently and from a wider array of places. They take ever-greater advantage of this new technology ecology by mastering features like instant messaging and phone text messaging on their tethered and mobile computing devices.”
Instant messaging and text messaging are overtaking e-mail as the most popular way for teens to communicate with their friends. Three-quarters of teenagers use instant messaging, and one-third of all American teens have sent text messages, said the report.
