Some 91% of teens in the United States go online from a mobile device at least occasionally, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center.
The report was based on data from a survey of a representative sample of 1,060 people age 13-17 in the United States.
African-American teens are significantly more likely than whites or Hispanics to use mobile devices to go online, the survey found: Nearly all African-American respondents say they use mobile Internet access at least occasionally, whereas 90% of white and 91% of Hispanic teens say so.
Some 92% of teens report going online daily, with 24% using the Internet "almost constantly," 56% going online several times a day, and 12% reporting once-a-day use.
Below, additional key findings from the report.
Messaging and Texting
- 33% of teens with cell phones say they use messaging apps like Kik or WhatsApp.
- Messaging apps are more likely to be used by Hispanic and African-American youth who own cell phones, with 46% of Hispanic teens and 47% of African-American teens using such apps to send texts, compared with one-quarter (24%) of white teens with cell phones.
- Mobile phone-owning teens send and receive 30 texts per day, on average.
- The number of messages exchanged for girls is higher: 40 messages a day, on average.
- The oldest girls surveyed (age 15-17) send and receive 50 messages per day on average.
Social Media
- 76% of US teens say they use social media; 81% of older teens (age 15-17) use social media, compared with 68% of teens age 13-14.
- Facebook is the most popular of all the social media platforms included in the survey, with 71% of teens saying they use Facebook.
- Boys and girls are equally likely to report using Facebook, but older users, age 15-17, are more likely to use it than younger users age, 13 to 14; only 44% of 13-year-olds say they use Facebook, compared with of 77% of those age 14-17.
- Among Facebook users, the typical teen has 145 Facebook friends.
About the research: The report was based on data from survey of a representative sample of 1,060 people age 13-17 in the United States.
