6/15/2013
The government may be cracking down on how advertisers capture Internet users’ personal information, but teens aren’t really concerned with this topic. In fact, just 9% say they are “very” concerned about third parties, such as companies and advertisers, accessing their online data, according to the Pew Research Center. Teens ages 12-13 are more likely than teens ages 14-17 to be concerned about others accessing their personal information online (17% vs. 6%). By contrast, 81% of their parents are concerned over the information advertisers can access about their children online.
That said, teens do manage their online reputations. A majority (57%) have refrained from posting something online because they were concerned it would reflect badly on them in the future. Three in four (74%) have deleted people from their network or friends list and will manipulate their profile and timeline content to maximize the number of “likes.” Nearly half (45) have removed their name from photos that have been tagged to identify them, and 53% have deleted comments from others on their profiles. Almost six in 10 (58%) have deleted people from their network or friends’ list.
Teen Internet Demographics
Teens have an average 300 friends on Facebook. Teens ages 14-17 are more likely than teens ages 12-13 to have Facebook friends that go to different schools (92% vs. 82%), are celebrities (36% vs. 25%), and are teachers or coaches (34% vs. 19%). Girls are more likely than boys to have teachers or coaches as Facebook friends (37% vs. 23%). Black teens are more likely than white teens to be Facebook friends with celebrities (48% vs. 25%). Interestingly, teens with the largest friend network are less likely than teens with fewer friends to be friends with their parents (60% vs. 79%).
Prolific teen social media users tend to be more popular online. Teens with more than 600 Facebook friends are more likely than those with fewer than 150 Facebook friends to have a Twitter account (46% vs. 13%) and use Instagram (12% vs. 2%).
In addition to the regular information, such as personal pictures and school name, posted on their most frequently used social network (aka Facebook), teens are increasingly augmenting their profiles with their real name (92%); interests, including favorite movies and books (84%); their birth date (82%); their relationship status (62%); and videos of themselves (24%). Six in 10 teen Facebook users (60%) keep their profiles private. Teen boys are more likely than their girl counterparts to have a fully public profile (20% vs. 8%).
Teens ages 14-17 are more likely than teens ages 12-13 to post photos of themselves (94% vs. 82%), their school name (76% vs. 56%), their relationship status (66% vs. 50%), and their cell phone number (23% vs. 11%).
Teens typically post similar personal information regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity, except for two factors: Boys are more likely than girls to post their cell phone number (26% vs. 14%), and white teens are also more likely than black teens to disclose their real names (95% vs. 77%).
Some 16% of teen social media users set up their profiles to automatically include their location in posts.
Teen Twitter usage has grown from 16% in 2011 to 24% today, and teens have an average of 79 followers. Black teens are more likely than white teens to use Twitter (39% vs. 24%).
Nearly two in three teen Twitter users say their tweets are public (64%), though 12% are “unsure.” Teen boys and girls are equally as likely to have public accounts, and boys are more likely than girls to be unsure about their status (21% vs. 5%).
Hidden Messages
Teen girls are more likely than teen boys to delete friends from their network (82% vs. 66%) and block people (67% vs. 48%). A majority of teen social media users (58%) share inside jokes or messages in some way, and 26% post false information, such as a fake name or age, to help protect their privacy. Black teens are more likely than white teens to post fake information to their profiles (39% vs. 21%).
Social media’s negative effects on teens seem to be more media hype than reality. Fewer than two in 10 teens (17%) have ever been contacted online by someone that made them feel scared or uncomfortable. Few teens (4%) have shared sensitive information online that later caused problems for themselves or other family members, and another 4% have posted information online that got them in trouble at school. However, 30% of online teens have received online advertising that is “clearly inappropriate” for their age.
Today’s teens are actually becoming more honest. Fewer than four in 10 (39%) admit to lying about their age to access a website or sign up for an online account, down from 44% who did so in 2011.
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist, 1615 L St., #700, Washington, DC 20036; 202-419-4500; data@pewinternet.org; www.pewinternet.org.
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