A survey finds email is for grown-ups

Kids turn to IM to chat

28 July 2005 9:03 GMT / By Stuart Miles

A survey in America has suggested that email is for grown-ups and todays teenagers are turning to other methods of chating on the internet like instant messaging.

According to the survey by the nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project, Internet users from 12 to 17 years old say e-mail is best for talking to parents or institutions, but they are more likely to jump on Instant messenger programs when talking with each other.

E-mail is still used by 90 percent of online teens. But the survey found greater enthusiasm for instant messaging.

Three-quarters of teen Internet users use instant messaging, compared with 42 percent of adults, Pew said. Nearly half of teens said they exchanged IMs daily, and some said they spent more than two hours each day using instant-messenger programs.

Half or nearly half of the 1,100 teenagers surveyed said they used IM to send Web links or photos to each other, while nearly one-third said they had sent music or video clips over IM.

Among other things, there has been significant growth over the past four years in the number of teens who play games on the internet, get news, shop online, and get health information.

The survey was conducted in October and November 2004.

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Software, Online, Websites, Pew Internet, Surveys