2. 4/18/2012 2
•
Internet adoption over time by teens & adults
% within each age group who go online
95%
94%
87%
74%
41%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Nov 04 Nov 06 Nov 07 Feb 08 Sept 09 July 11
12-17
18-29
30-49
50-64
65+
3. 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%)
4/18/2012 3
5. 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
• Once cell ownership hurdle
is crossed, no differences in
smartphone ownership by
race, income.
• Is it a smartphone? Latino
youth less certain that their
phone is a smartphone (24%
not sure, vs. 10% of whites).
4/18/2012 5
7. 4/18/2012 7
Teen social network & Twitter use
Based on teen internet users
55%
60%
65%
73%
80%
8%
16%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Nov 2006 Nov 2007 Feb 2008 Sept 2009 July 2011
Use online social networking sites Use Twitter
8. 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 12-13 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
4/18/2012 8
9. 4/18/2012 9
Teens’ privacy settings on social media sites
Based on teen SNS or Twitter users (n=623)
17%
19%
62%
2%
Public
Partially
Private
Private
(friends only)
Don't know /
Refused
10. 4/18/2012 10
Are people your age mostly kind or mostly unkind to
one another on social network sites?
% of teens and adults who use social media
1%
4%
5%
5%
85%*
0%
1%
11%*
20%*
69%
Refused
Don't know
Depends
People are mostly unkind
People are mostly kind
teens 12-17 (n=623) adults 18+ (n=1047)
11. 4/18/2012 11
How often do you witness online cruelty &
meanness?
% of teens and adults who use social media
.
2%
29%*
44%
18%
7%
1%
11%
47%
29%*
12%*
Don't know
Never
Only once in a while
Sometimes
Frequently
teens 12-17 (n=623) adults 18+ (n=1047)
12. 4/18/2012 12
In the past 12 months when you have
been on a social network site, has
anyone been mean or cruel to you?
% of teens and adults who use social media
1%
86%
13%
0%
85%
15%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Don't know
No
Yes
teens 12-17 (n=623) adults 18+ (n=1047)
13. 10%
18%
21%
34%
40%
45%
45%
46%
54%
70%
86%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Someone or somewhere else
Librarian
Internet or cell phone service provider
Websites
Youth or church group leader, or coach
Friend or schoolmate
Older relative like an aunt, uncle or grandparent
Sister, brother or cousin
Television, radio, newspapers or magazines
Teacher or another adult at school
Parents
Have you ever received advice about how to
use the internet and cell phones responsibly
and safely from any of these people or
places?
% of teen internet or cell phone users (n=778)
4/18/2012 13
14. Final thoughts
• Digital differences have moved beyond classic
access issues of the last decade
• Mobile is a more universal access point
• But may be exposing some of our children to
meanness and cruelty
• Newer differences should not be immediately
pathologized
4/18/2012 14
15. Title of presentation 4/18/2012 15
Amanda Lenhart
Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project
http://www.pewinternet.org
@amanda_lenhart
photo by arcticpenguin
New Pew Report:
Digital Differences
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Digital-
differences.aspx
