It Ain’t Heavy, It’s My Smartphone : American teens & the infiltration of mobility into their computing lives Amanda Lenhart | Pew Research Center Hardwick-Day & The Lawlor Group Summer Seminar Minneapolis June 14, 2012

Title of presentation Road Map The Internet: Then & Now Teen internet basics Mobile Video Social Media Context around teen internet and social media use –Teen privacy choices –School technology climate What it means for you 5/8/20152

The Internet: Then and Now

46% of US adults used the internet 5% had home broadband connections 53% owned a cell phone 0% connected to internet wirelessly 0% used social network sites _________________________ Information flowed mainly one way Information consumption was a stationary activity Internet Use in the U.S. in 2000 Slow, stationary connections built around a desktop computer

82% of US adults use the internet 2/3 have broadband at home 88% have a cell phone; 46% are smartphone users 19% have a tablet computer 19% have an e-reader 2/3 are wireless internet users 65% of online adults use SNS The Internet in 2012 Mobile devices have fundamentally changed the relationship between information, time and space Information is now portable, participatory, and personal

The Very Nature of Information Has Changed All around us Cheap or free Shaped and controlled by consumers and networks Designed for sharing, participation and feedback Immediate Embedded in our worlds Scarce Expensive Shaped and controlled by elites Designed for one-way, mass consumption Slow moving External to our worlds Information was… Information is…

Information is Woven Into Our Lives Mobile is the needle, Social Networks are the thread Social Networks… Surround us with information through our many connections Bring us information from multiple, varied sources Provide instant feedback, meaning and context Allow us to shape and create information ourselves and amplify others’ messages Mobile… Moves information with us Makes information accessible ANYTIME and ANYWHERE Puts information at our fingertips Magnifies the demand for timely information Makes information location-sensitive

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Digging down to differences Internet use Latino youth slightly less likely than whites to use the internet (88% vs. 97%) Youth from low income/low SES environments slightly more likely to go online less frequently –more likely to say that they use the internet 1-2 days a week or less often. Computer ownership No racial or ethnic differences Low education households – where parents have a HS diploma or less, are substantially less likely to have youth who say they “own” a computer. (65% vs. 80%) 5/8/201510

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% of adult cell phone owners age 18+ within each group who do the following activities with their cell phone White, non- Hispanic (n=1343) Black, non- Hispanic (n=232) Hispanic (n=196) Send or receive text messages707683* Take a picture717079* Access the internet3956*51* Send a photo or video to someone525861* Send or receive 3446*43* Download an app2836* Play a game3143*40* Play music2745*47* Record a video3041*42* Access a social networking site2539*35* Watch a video2133*39* Post a photo or video online1830*28* Check bank balance or do online banking1527*25* *indicates statistically significant differences compared with whites. Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, April 26 – May 22, 2011 Spring Tracking Survey. n=2,277 adults ages 18 and older, including 755 cell phone interviews. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. Adult Cell Phone Activities by Race/Ethnicity

How Phones Function In Lives of Adults % of US adult cell owners who had done each of the following in the 30 days prior to the survey…

% of cell owners in each age group who have performed these real-time activities in the previous 30 days Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Mobile Survey, March 15-April 3, Adults Using Phones for Real-Time Information

Smartphone ownership 23% of all teens have a smartphone; as do one third of mobile phone owners Age is most important in determining cell or smartphone ownership –12-13 least likely to have a cell phone, mostly feature phones (8% have smartphone) –14-15 majority have cell phones, but mostly feature phones (21% smartphone) –16-17 majority have cell, approx 40% have smartphone 5/8/201516

Smart phone ownership (2) Once cell ownership hurdle is crossed, no differences in smartphone ownership by race, income. Avid users of social media (91% use SNS, 25% twitter vs. 77% use SNS, 13% twitter non- smartphone owners Is it a smartphone? Latino youth less certain that their phone is a smartphone (24% not sure, vs. 10% of whites). 5/8/201517

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Location-based services Standalone applications like Foursquare or location features on platforms like Facebook and Twitter 6% of all American teens have used a location- based service to check in or note their location on their cell phones. –8% of cell owners –18% of smartphone owners –Older teens (14-17) use them more than younger (9% vs. 1%) –No differences in use by gender, race or SES 5/8/201519

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Video 27% of teens record and upload video –Boys and girls equally likely to do so (in 2006 boys were more likely) –Social media users more likely to shoot and share video –No differences by race, ethnicity or SES 26

Title of presentation Video 13% of teens stream video live to the internet –Broadband users –Social media users more likely Don’t know WHAT is being shared 27

Title of presentation Video 37% of teens use video chat –Girls chat more –White youth chat more than Latino Youth –Higher SES youth more likely to chat –Social media users chat more 28

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Differences in Social Media Use Twitter shows big differences –34% of online African-American teens use Twitter –11% of online white teens use Twitter –13% of online Latino teens use Twitter –Lower income teens (under 30K hhd inc) more likely to use than higher income teens. –Girls more than boys – youngest boys are laggards Social network site use more broadly adopted –Lowest income teens use SNS more than highest income teens –Girls more than boys –Older teens more than younger teens 5/8/201532

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5/8/ How younger and older teens use social media

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Title of presentation Friend Management 84% say all friends can see the same thing on SNS profile, 15% say they limit what certain friends can see. 30% have shared a password with friend or significant other. 5/8/201537

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Thinking before they post 55% of teens have decided not to post something online because of concerns that it might reflect poorly on them in the future Older teens withhold more than younger (59% vs. 46%) –17 year olds withhold the most (67%) Social network users more likely to withhold (60% vs. 34%) 5/8/201539

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Parents and tech ownership 91% of parents of children ages own cell phones, 86% of parent cell owners send and receive text messages. –84% of all adults have cell phones; 76% of them exchange text messages. 87% of parents of teens are internet users (vs. 78% of those in the overall adult population) 82% of parents have broadband connections at home (vs. 62% of those in the overall population). 86% of parents of teens own laptops or desktops; 76% of those in the overall adult population have them. Online parents are just as likely as the general population of adult internet users to use social network sites; –67% of online parents of teens use social network sites like Facebook or LinkedIn; 64% of all adult internet users use SNS 5/8/201541

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Summary Our relationship to information has radically changed in the last 12 years. Digital differences have moved beyond classic access issues of the last decade Mobile is a more universal access point… …but truly robust mobile-phone based computing is still in the hands of relatively few teens Geo-location not embraced Social media hugely important; tension around privacy & management of the space 5/8/201545

What does it mean for you? Internet access is base – beginning to see diversification in access points – worth starting to design for multiple platforms. Mobile is increasingly important – particularly for minority, low SES youth and families. But tends to be for real-time information seeking – campus visit, not college research. Smartphones are coming, but ¾ of youth don’t have them yet (60% of year olds don’t have them). Geo-location – fun, but teens aren’t there yet – tablets too. – don’t rely on it. Many teens use it, but not frequently. Text-based messaging has moved into social media and texting; teens starting to prefer text over voice. Facebook is dominant; but Twitter is on the rise. Watch Tumblr. 5/8/201546

Title of presentation 5/8/ Amanda Lenhart Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project photo by arcticpenguin New Pew Report: Digital Differences differences.aspx differences.aspx