In the fifties, teenagers used to hang out at the local diner. The eighties found them congregating at the local video arcade. Teenagers used to socially interact more in person. Today, they utilize the many social networking tools that are available via the internet to stay in touch with their friends.
Twitter or Not?
Believe it or not, most teenagers do not use twitter. Twitter is seen to them as a waste of time and something for "old people". In a recent article Bloomberg article, a fifteen year old Morgan Stanley intern acknowledges this fact. They know that people aren't really following their tweets anyhow and deem it a waste of time.
Teens Don't Hang Out in Person
They just don't see their peers in person as much as they did ten years ago. They are content to play online games via their computer or Xbox and often schedule "meet up's" to play and game together. They communicate via headsets and in game instant messaging and often do this for hours on end.
They do still, however, attend high school events such as football and basketball games and dances so there is some in person interaction.
Texting, Email and Cell Phones
When "offline", communication is much the same. Communication is done through instant messaging, email and texting via their cell phone. Instant Messaging is often done through an application such as Facebook and texting is the preferred method of short, simple communications. According to a USA Today report, 42% of thirteen year olds already have a cell phone and that number skyrockets to 75% for seventeen year olds.
Internet Social Networking Sites
If My Space is considered big then Facebook is a Goliath. Teens prefer the social networking site and consider My Space to be for younger kids. They post tidbits about their day on their Facebook wall and love the hundreds of games, quizzes and fan pages that Facebook offers.
Boys used to want to be rock stars and girls used to want to star in a music video. Today, YouTube is by far more popular than anything else. Teens actually stage stories, reviews and other videos just to post them on YouTube to get comments and to have their moment of internet fame.
All in all, teenagers today are still very much socially active as they have been for decades. They just have new tools at their disposal and are utilizing them to reach out even more.
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