Teens' Social Media Experiences

A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shared data about the social media experience of teenagers. The study looked at teens' behavior and experiences using social media. Among the findings:

• 95% of teens 12-17 years of age are online;
• 80% of those online teens use social media.

Teens also shared their experience on social media sites.

• 69% of teenagers who use social media say their peers are mostly kind to one another on the sites;
• 88% report witnessing people being mean or cruel on the sites;
• 15% said they were the target of mean or cruel behavior.
• 90% said they ignored the mean behavior;
• 80% say they defended a victim of meanness and cruelty;
• 70% say they told someone to stop being mean; and
• 21% say they joined in the harassment of others on social media.

Thirty-six percent of teens sought help about online problems. Most (53%) asked for help from friends and peers while 36% talked with their parents.

Most teens (62%) of teens reported that they keep their privacy settings on private so that only friends can see content. Twenty percent keep their site semi-private and 17% keep their site fully public.

These data provide interesting insights into the online experience of today's teens. The full report from the Pew Research Center is available here. We'd enjoy hearing from you about your experiences with teens and social media in your school.