Teens are key online audience, survey shows

US teenagers now represent an online news audience of 16 million, according to the latest research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Three quarters of American teenagers now get their news from the internet, up from 68 per cent in December 2000.

Around 87 per cent of Americans aged between 12 and 17 are now online, an increase of nearly a quarter since 2001.

Male and female web users reported very similar levels of web use, although girls were found to use the internet slightly more to look for political news and information.

Fifty-five per cent of teenagers overall said they looked for political coverage, including the US Presidential elections in November 2004.

The majority of teenagers surveyed, 87 per cent, access the web from home and 78 per cent have logged on at school. Eight-four per cent of the 1,100 young people surveyed use their own computer, mobile phone or PDA to go online.

"Increasing numbers of teenagers live in a world of nearly ubiquitous computing and communication technologies that they can access at will," said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at Pew and co-author of the 'Teens and technology' report.

Communication by IM, or instant messaging, is preferred to the more formal medium of email, and girls aged 15 to 17 were the heaviest users - 97 per cent said they used IM. Older teenage girls were also found to use the web more as a source of information, on health issues and entertainment.

Pew's 'Teens and technology' report was based on research was carried out from October to November 2004 which surveyed 1,100 US teenagers and their parents in the US.

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