It’s no surprise that the vast majority of American teens are on Facebook, or that parents worry about what their kids are doing there, or even that some kids do things online that they shouldn’t. Still, it’s interesting to see just how much social networking is a part of the modern teenage lifestyle, and how they and their parents feel about it. If you’re the parent of a teenager, you might be surprised at some of the statistics regarding teens and social networking. These stats might make you think twice about getting Facebook parental controls.
Teen Internet Use
93% of teens ages 12-17 go online
69% of teens have their own computer
63% of teen internet users go online every day
27% of teens use their phone to get online
24% of teens with a game console use it to go online
Teen Social Networking Use
73% of teens are on a social network
The average teen has 201 Facebook friends
37% send messages to friends every day
8% of American teens use Twitter
What Teens do on Facebook
86% of social network-using teens comment on a friend's wall
83% comment on friends' pictures
66% send private messages to friends
58% send IM or text messages using the site
52% send group messages
What Else Happens on Facebook
55% of teens have given out personal info to someone they don’t know, including photos and physical descriptions
29% of teens have posted mean info, embarrassing photos or spread rumours about someone
29% have been stalked or contacted by a stranger or someone they don’t know
24% have had private or embarrassing info made public without their permission
22% have been cyberpranked
Parental Concerns and Controls
88% of parents know that their teens typically use the internet to communicate with people they don’t know in the offline world
61% of parents’ #1 concern with teen social networking is sharing personal information online
60% of adults think parents should have full control over everything