Teens are sending 60 texts a day, study says

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(CBS News) Teens are sending more text messages than ever before, according to a new report called "Teens, Smartphones & Texting" conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

According to Pew Internet, teens are sending an average of 60 text messages per day. That number is up from 50 text messages in a 2009 survey. Older girls are the most prolific communicators, sending an average of 100 text messages. Compare that number with boys, who sent about 50 messages per day.

Text messaging is the top means of communication among teen, with 63 percent of teens sending messages every day. Only 39 percent of teens reported making phone calls daily and 35 percent of teens say they communicate face-to-face. Other means of communicating included: social networks (29 percent), instant messaging (22 percent), talking on landlines (19 percent) and emailing (6 percent).

More frequent texting didn't necessarily mean fewer phone calls. The study revealed that teens who were heavy texters also made it on the list of heaviest talkers.

Smartphones are also gaining popularity among teens. About 23 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds have a smartphone. The number jumps to 31 percent among 14- to 17-year-olds. For comparison sake, about 77 percent of teens have mobile phones.

The increase in texting didn't carry over into location-based services like Foursquare or Facebook Places. Only 6 percent of teens overall admitted to checking in to share their physical location with friends.

The study surveyed 799 U.S. teens ranging from 12 to 17 years old and their parents. In addition, Pew Internet also surveyed 57 teens, broken into seven focus groups. The margin of error for the study is set at 4.8 percentage points.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a part of the Pew Research Center.

Pew Internet & American Life Project

[magnumdr]

What a freekin waste of time and money. Can't anyone just talk to one another anymore?.

[morris2196]

What a waste of time.

[dman6015]

Only averaging 60 per day? Seems a bit low to me. I know kids who send over 3,000 texts a month. Good thing their parents have unlimited text plans.

[omnibus66]

"Text messaging is the top means of communication among teen"

People used to talk to one another. But voice communication is now considered "old school". So now we have generations coming up who know all the anagrams, but are sorely lacking in true communication skills. For most of them (the texters, putting together a complete, grammatically correct sentence with all of the words spelled correctly (without an electronic spell checker) is a real challenge. And on top of that, Republicans want to cut funding for education. Welcome to the dumb new world.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

I refuse to send or receive texts and so advise my clients and subcontractors. Up to 4 keystrokes per character on a micro-sized keyboard.

Absurd.

[KalinKassabov]

Teens aren't the only ones who are increasingly using texting. Businesspeople are increasingly using text messaging as a way to break through the clutter. I've been noticing how whenever someone needs to reach me right away, they will send me a text message. It's almost like email is a last resort. With email, we are bombarded with so much email; even the best filters don't catch everything. text messaging is a direct conversation between the sender and the person receiving the message. With text messaging I know the sender must have something important to say to me.

[quatermass2]

Enjoy your electronic ball and chain.

[quatermass2]

Welcome to Short Attention Span Theater. Well, at least they're not jabbering like monkeys on crack.

[longtree-2009]

wonder what their cell phone bill is like and do parents pay it without question. probably so else teens wouldn't be texting. parents are so easy.