Many teenagers claim to be unable to live without some form of technological appendage to hand on which they can text, chat, post, listen to music, and swap photos and information.
The study covers USA adolescents, but also applies to those of Western Europe as the percentages differ by 1 or 2 points.
Some of the main statistics revealed by the study included: 75% of teenagers own a mobile phone (including 58% of 12 year olds) Almost 90% send and receive texts - half of whom send 50 or more texts daily, with 1 in 3 sending 100 per day.
73% of teens use social networking sites, with Facebook being the most popular.
Since 2006, Pew Internet & American Life have been documenting the way teenagers use their mobile phones.
In 2007, they organisation began to look into the growing usage of social media by those aged between 12 - 17.
Although the high figures may leave some feeling that this generation of young people are wasting their time on computers, and sacrificing the benefits of physical contact and human interaction.
However, one professor from Amsterdam, Professor Valkenburg of the Centre for Research on Children, Adolescents and the Media, believes that social networking can be extremely beneficial for adolescents going through what is generally deemed to be a pivotal and sometimes awkward period of life.
She reminds us that adolescence can be a particularly traumatising or embarrassing period of our lives, but it is also one in which we strive to express our identity to others on an unprecedented level, as well as participating in a process of self-disclosure in which we discuss intimate topics.
These processes are very important for our development according to Prof.
Valkenburg, but they are also surrounded by copious amounts of self-consciousness and timorousness.
Social networking and texting provides a solution to this problem, allowing teenagers to experience these processes, but to forgo the awkwardness and embarrassment which is associated with them.
These technologies empower the user, and allow them to gain a greater level of control over their perceived identity.
For teenagers it equates to a controllability over what you say and how you say it.
For search engine optimisation experts in the USA, as well as UK SEO consultants, these findings will come as no surprise.
The growth of Facebook and social media in general has been a constant factor over the last few years; the fact that it has become such an influential feature in the lives of teenagers is a logical conclusion to the story.
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