Pew Research Center Report Claims Many More Teenagers Now Own Smartphones

By: Talha Bhatti  |   March 13th, 2013   |   News, Smartphones

Teenagers love communicating with their peers and with the advent of the telephone they found a way to keep in touch from the comfort of home. Cell phones made staying in constant touch a lot easier and text messaging became a major part of many teenager’s lives. Now smartphones have taken over and young users have taken to using these devices with the same fervor. A Pew Research Center report has provided more evidence of these points and was released on Tuesday, March 12. The Pew survey showed that more teenagers in the US now own smartphones. The study took place from July 2012 to September 2012 an involved 802 adolescents from the ages of 12 to 17.

 

The report showed that seventy-eight percent of US teenagers had a mobile device in 2012. 37 percent of all teenagers, or half of cell phone owners had smartphones. This a major jump of 23 percent in smartphone ownership from 2011.

 

One of the most interesting insights from the study shows that the smartphones are not just being used to talk to or message friends. The devices are also the main way these adolescents access the internet and according to the Pew finding 25 percent of the smartphone users are “cell-mostly” Internet users. That is a big number compared to the 15 percent of adults who claim to be users of internet mostly mobile devices.

 

Mary Madden, a Pew senior researcher and co-author of the report, states that, “The nature of teens’ Internet use has transformed dramatically — from stationary connections tied to shared desktops in the home to always-on connections that move with them throughout the day. In many ways, teens represent the leading edge of mobile connectivity, and the patterns of their technology use often signal future changes in the adult population.”

 

In September of 2012, Nielsen also published a report o the same subject matter. That study had even higher numbers and claimed that consumers “aged 13 to 17 are grabbing up smartphones at a surprisingly quick rate and that the majority of American teens, 58 percent, own a smartphone.”

Source: CNET