Roughly one-fourth of American teens own a smartphone — but they're not using them to place calls. A new survey from Pew Internet Research finds that texting is far and away the preferred medium of communication among teenagers. "Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, teens will be flummoxed when it comes to how to make a phone call," says Suzanne Choney at MSNBC. Here, a closer look at the demise of talk time, by the numbers:
5
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
14
Percentage of teens who use a landline every day to speak with friends
30
Percentage of teens who used a landline every day to speak with friends in 2009
31
Percentage of teens who never use a landline, or live in a home without one
77
Percentage of teens who own a cell phone
23
Percentage of teens who own a smartphone
75
Percentage of cell-phone-owning teens who send texts regularly
51
Percentage of cell-phone-owning teens who sent texts regularly in 2006
60
Text messages a typical teen sends or receives each day, up from 50 in 2009. "Any parent who has watched their teenager's fingers flying through text messages with the speed of a hummingbird's wings" knows that teens are sending more texts than ever before, says Benny Evangelista at the San Francisco Chronicle.
100
Texts sent each day by girls ages 14 to 17, the study's "most enthusiastic texters"
50
Texts sent each day by boys that age
35
Percentage of teens who see their friends face-to-face (presumably outside of school) on a daily basis
22
Percentage of teens who speak with their friends using instant messaging on a daily basis
6
Percentage of teens who use email to contact their friends, which, says Evangelista, is "so 2005"
Sources: Associated Press, MSNBC, Pew Internet Research, San Francisco Chronicle
-
Weapons: Julia Garner stars in 'hyper-eerie' psychological thrillerThe Week Recommends Zach Cregger's 'top notch' new film opens with 17 children disappearing at exactly the same time
-
Freakier Friday: Lohan and Curtis reunite for 'uneven' but 'endearing' sequelThe Week Recommends Mother-and-daughter comedy returns with four characters switching bodies
-
Al fresco art: the UK's best sculpture parksThe Week Recommends Soak up the scenery with a stroll through these open-air galleries
