[Infowarrior] - Pew Releases Report: Social Networking Websites and Teens: An Overview

[Richard Forno]

(report URL: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_SNS_Data_Memo_Jan_2007.pdf)


http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/134/press_release.asp

Washington-- More than half (55%) of all of online American youths ages
12-17 use online social networking sites, according to a new national survey
of teenagers conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The survey also finds that older teens, particularly girls, are more likely
to use these sites. For girls, social networking sites are primarily places
to reinforce pre-existing friendships; for boys, the networks also provide
opportunities for flirting and making new friends.

A social networking site is an online place where a user can create a
profile and build a personal network that connects him or her to other
users. In the past five years, such sites have rocketed from a niche
activity into a phenomenon that engages tens of millions of internet users.
The explosive growth in the popularity of these sites has generated concerns
among some parents, school officials, and government leaders about the
potential risks posed to young people when personal information is made
available in such a public setting.

The data memo, written by Senior Research Specialists Amanda Lenhart and
Mary Madden, is based on a survey conducted by telephone from October 23
through November 19, 2006 among a national sample of 935 youths ages 12 to
17. The survey asked about the ways that teenagers use social networking
sites and their reasons for doing so. Among the key findings:

# 55% of online teens have created a personal profile online, and 55% have
used social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook.
# 66% of teens who have created a profile say that their profile is not
visible to all internet users.
# 48% of teens visit social networking websites daily or more often; 26%
visit once a day, 22% visit several times a day.
# Older girls ages 15-17 are more likely to have used social networking
sites and created online profiles; 70% of older girls have used an online
social network compared with 54% of older boys, and 70% of older girls have
created an online profile, while only 57% of older boys have done so.

"There is a widespread notion that every American teenager is using social
networks, and that they¹re plastering personal information over their
profiles for anyone and everyone to read," says Amanda Lenhart. "These
findings add nuance to that story ­ not every teenager is using a social
networking website, and of those that do, more than half of them have in
some way restricted access to their profile."

Teens say social networking sites help them manage their friendships

# 91% of all social networking teens say they use the sites to stay in touch
with friends they see frequently, while 82% use the sites to stay in touch
with friends they rarely see in person.
# 72% of all social networking teens use the sites to make plans with
friends; 49% use the sites to make new friends.
# Older boys who use social networking sites (ages 15-17) are more likely
than girls of the same age to say that they use social networking sites to
make new friends (60% vs. 46%).
# Just 17% of all social networking teens say they use the sites to flirt.
# Older boys who use social networking sites are more than twice as likely
as older girls to say they use the sites to flirt; 29% report this compared
with just 13% of older girls.

"Both boys and girls rely on social networks to keep close tabs on their
current friends, but older boys are much more likely to use them to meet new
friends and flirt in the comfort of an online environment," says Mary
Madden. "Older boys are really the ones taking advantage of the true
'networking' features afforded by the sites."

The Pew Internet Project survey was conducted from October 23 to November
19, 2006 and has a margin of error in the overall sample of plus or minus 3
percentage points.

The Pew Internet Project is a non-profit, non-partisan initiative of the Pew
Research Center that produces reports exploring the impact of the internet
on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care,
and civic/political life. Support for the non-profit Pew Internet Project is
provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.