The Pew Internet and American Life Project reported that nearly ALL teens in the US are online. . . and active in texting. (Writing for those of us over 22.)
Overall 94% are online, and if the income category under $30,000 in household income is eliminated, it is over 97%!
Responding teens were heavy users of electronic communications overall: 71% had a mobile phone, 59% had a notebook or desktop PC, 58% had a social network profile and 27% had a blog, according to information reported by Emarketer Newsletter.
While these facts are no real surprise to the market researcher or technophile, it deserves a hard look for those catering to teenage or young adult customers, because one possible result may be irrelevance of some businesses that don’t get it. Those that text, (they do not like to call it writing) may expect those that sell to them to text as well. Girls spend much more time texting and high-tech communicating than boys do. 44% of girls text every day, compared with only half as much for boys.
Don’t let your conclusion be that this group is great at writing though. In a recent seminar that I attended, Email expert Michelle Howe explained that in her college level business school writing class, most students completely clutch when asked to write a two paragraph email announcing a fictional policy change! See more on this subject in upcoming posts.
