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It’s Personal: Similarities and Differences in Online Social Network Use Between Teens and Adults Amanda Lenhart The Role of Social Network Sites in the Lives of Young People @ ICA May 23, 2009 Chicago, IL

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Methodology <ul><li>2 RDD surveys with teens 12 to 17 and a parent or guardian </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Sept-Nov 2007 (n=700) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Oct-Nov 2006 (n=935) </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Focus groups w/ youth in 2007 </li></ul><ul><li>2 RDD surveys of adults </li></ul><ul><ul><li>May 2008 (n=2251) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>December 2008 (n=2253) </li></ul></ul>

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How teens communicate <ul><li>All teens: </li></ul><ul><li>95% of teens spend time with friends face to face </li></ul><ul><li>88% of teens talk to their friends on a landline </li></ul><ul><li>67% of teens talk to their friends on their cell phone </li></ul><ul><li>65% of teens send email to friends </li></ul><ul><li>61% send messages to friends through social networking sites </li></ul><ul><li>60% of online teens send instant messages to friends </li></ul><ul><li>58% of teens send text messages to friends </li></ul>

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How teens communicate daily <ul><li>Everyday: </li></ul><ul><li>51% of teens (with cell phones) talk on their cell phones </li></ul><ul><li>42% of teens (who use SNS) send messages through social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook </li></ul><ul><li>38% of teens send text messages to each other </li></ul><ul><li>32% of teens talk to friends on a landline phone </li></ul><ul><li>29% spend time with friends in person doing social activities outside of school </li></ul><ul><li>26% send instant messages </li></ul><ul><li>16% send email </li></ul>

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Teens & social networking sites <ul><li>65% of online teens have a profile online </li></ul><ul><li>Girls, particularly older girls, more likely to use SNS than boys (86% of girls 15-17 have profile online, compared to 69% of boys 15-17) </li></ul><ul><li>Age is major factor </li></ul><ul><ul><li>12 -14 year-olds; 38% have an online profile </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>15 -17 year-olds; 77% have an online profile </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Other demographic factors not significant </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Income </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Race/ethnicity </li></ul></ul>

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Teens & communication within online social networks <ul><li>83% of social network users have added comments to a friend’s picture </li></ul><ul><li>77% post messages to friend’s page or wall </li></ul><ul><li>71% send private messages to friends within the SNS </li></ul><ul><li>66% post comments on a friends blog </li></ul><ul><li>54% send bulletins or group messages to all their friends </li></ul><ul><li>54% send IMs or text messages to friends through the SNS </li></ul><ul><li>Many communicative activities within SNS are down since 2006 </li></ul><ul><li>84% posted messages to friend’s page or wall in 2006 </li></ul><ul><li>82% sent private messages to friends within the SNS in 2006 </li></ul><ul><li>76% post comments on a friends blog in 2006 </li></ul><ul><li>61% send bulletins or group messages to all their friends 2006 (just within the margin of error) </li></ul><ul><li>Other questions not asked in 2006 </li></ul>

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Adults and SNS <ul><li>35% of adults have a profile on a social network site </li></ul><ul><li>Younger adults dominate: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>75% of 18-24 year olds have a profile; </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>57% of 25-34 y-o have profile </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>7% of 65+ have a profile. </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Half of adult SNS users use MySpace </li></ul><ul><li>51% of adult SNS users have more than one social network profile online; and majority of those (83%) are on different sites. </li></ul><ul><li>10% of all adult internet users have deleted an online profile </li></ul>

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Teens & Adults: Use networks for friendships Source: Adult internet user data comes from the Pew Internet & American Life Project May 2008 Tracking Survey. The n for internet users is 1,553 and the margin of error is ±3%. Teen data is from the Teen & Parent survey fielded in Oct-December 2006. Margin of error is ± 4% for online teens. *This question was posed slightly differently to teens: “Do you ever use [social networking] sites to stay in touch with friends you see a lot?” There was also a complementary question asked of teens: “Do you ever use those sites to stay in touch with friends you rarely see in person” and 82% of teens who use social networks responded yes. 17 20 Flirt n/a 28 Promote yourself or your work n/a 28 Make new business or professional contacts n/a 43 Organize with others for an event, issue or cause 49 49 Make new friends 72 57 Make plans with friends 91% 89% Stay in touch with friends* Teens Adults Do you use your online profile to…? Adults & teens use online networks to say in touch with pre-existing friends

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Teens say harder to find them online Source: Adult data comes from the Pew Internet & American Life Project May 2008 Tracking Survey. n=328 social network users and the margin of error for those users is ±6%. Teen data is from the Teen & Parent survey fielded in Oct-December 2006. Margin of error is ± 4% for online teens. 36 20 Very difficult for someone to find me 40 33 Someone would have to work at it, but eventually they would find me 23% 43% Pretty easy to find me Teens Adults How easy would it be to find out who you are from your social network profile? Many adults believe they are “findable”

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Final thoughts <ul><li>Teens still using SNS frequently, but use of some internal communication tools has declined slightly </li></ul><ul><li>Adults and teens both use social network sites predominately to stay in touch with people they already know and maintain personal relationships </li></ul><ul><li>Adults may be less privacy conscious than teens. Or more in touch with online realities? </li></ul><ul><li>Limitations: Teen data for privacy questions is from 2006 – hard to compare to adult 2008 data since SNS environment is so different now </li></ul>

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Thank You! Reports: Adults & Social Networks and Teens, Games and Civics Amanda Lenhart [email_address] http://www.pewinternet.org