“How Do [They] Even Do That?” Myths and Facts About the Impact of Technology on the Lives of American Teens

This talk explores nine commonly held assumptions about how teens and young adults use technology. By applying nationally representative data, we’ll unpack fact from fiction. Do teens really send that many text messages a day? Is Twitter the next big thing among young adults? Are landlines obsolete? Using data from surveys and focus groups from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, we will examine the changes in technology use among young people, and look at why it is important that we understand these trends, even if we’re not young adults or parents of them ourselves:

Amanda Lenhart is a senior research specialist at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, where she directs research on young adults, teens, children and families. Her other research interests include education, gaming, and networked communication tools like mobile phones, social networks, blogging and microblogging. She is the author of more than 30 reports for the Project. Her most recent reports include Twitter and Status Updating, Teens and Distracted Driving, Teens and Sexting, Social Media and Young Adults and Teens and Mobile Phones.