Pew: Texting preferred comms channel for teens

Three-quarters of teens now own a mobile phone, a significant rise from just 45% in 2004. As a consequence, more and more teens are using their devices as a means to contact their friends - shunning other methods of communication such as email and instant messaging.

In particular, the number of teens who use texting as a way to communicate with friends has exploded in recent years. While just over half (51%) of teens were texters in 2006, that figure has now risen to nearly three-quarters (72%).

Now, according to Pew Research's new report, "Teens and Mobile Phones", texting is the preferred method of contacting their friends for over half (54%) of all teens, more than any other common method:-

- 38% call on their mobile phone
- 33% talk face to face
- 30% use a landline
- 25% use social networking sites
- 24% instant message
- 11% use email

"These findings show that in a very short time cell phones have moved from being a fancy toy in a few teens' lives to favored communications hubs for most teens that are vitally important to nourishing their ties to friends and coordinating complicated family lives," said Rich Ling, co-author of the report.

Some teens are certainly making the most of their fancy toys. Around 15% of teens send a whopping 200 or so text per day - that's over 6,000 each month. The average teen sends and receives around 50 texts per day or around 1,500 per month.

Tags: mobile marketing, mobile phones, research, teens, texting, trends