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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

Reach out and touch someone

It turns out that e-mail, text messaging, and Facebook still can't hold a candle to the good ole telephone. This is according to a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, as noted in USA Today. BoardBuzz wasn't completely surprised, even in light of NSBA's recent survey of teens and 'tweens, Creating and Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social - and Educational - Networking, which discussed just how connected the generation is. "But the No. 1 method of communication for the most wired generation ever? It's still the telephone ? as in landlines wired to a wall, says a new report on teens ages 12 to 17 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which tracks the USA's online behavior." Somebody call Ma Bell! The report also points out,

Teens don't drop old technologies as they add new ones, "they just communicate more," says Pew's Amanda Lenhart. "And more frequently." Teens choose the proper tool for each task, be it cellphone texting at a noisy party, Facebook for a quick hello, instant messages for multiple conversations, and seeing friends in person to, well, talk.

And believe it or not, what teens like the least? E-mail. The staple of office professionals everywhere isn't the hottest mode of communication for the High School Musical set.

The report finds that 28% of online teens have created their own online journal or blog, up from 19% in 2004; 33% create or work on Web pages or blogs for others, about the same as in 2004; and 39% share their own artistic creations online, up from 33% in 2004. Blogging is still dominated by girls: 35% of all online teen girls blog, compared with 20% of boys. But boys rule when it comes to posting videos: 19% of online boys have posted videos, vs. 10% of online girls.

Be sure to check out NSBA's report on Creating and Connecting to get a full picture of what teens and 'tweens are up to online.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on December 20, 2007 (boomark / email).