Generation Text: Teens say talking is so last year

The joke that today's teens are surgically attached to their mobile phones may not be too far off the truth. A new infographic from Online Schools reveals that they text thousands of times each month but think talking on the phone is very passé.

by Helen Leggatt

A smart infographic from Online Schools illustrates data from Nielsen's "New Mobile Obsession: U.S. Teens Triple Data Usage" report. It reveals just how much today's teens (age 13 - 17) use text and why.

On average, teens text 3,417 times each month - or 7 times each waking hour. Teen girls text far more than boys sending 3,952 messages each month compared with 2,815. Mobile users age 18-25 were found to be the second-heaviest text users sending, on average, 1,914 each month.

However, teens don't use their mobile devices to call and talk to their friends - that's so last year. Indeed, this age group spent over 100 minutes less chatting on their mobiles in 2011 than 2010 (572 vs. 685 minutes).

Why the preference for texting instead of calling? Almost a quarter (22%) said it's faster to text, almost as many (21%) said it was easier and 18% think it's more fun.

As well as texting, teens are turning to their mobile devices to keep themselves entertained. In the year to Q3 2011 Nielsen recorded a 95% rise in online gaming via mobile along with an 85% rise in game downloads and a 66% rise in music and radio streaming.

Tags: mobile demographics, mobile usage, online gaming, smartphone, SMS, teens, text message