How Teenagers Are Using Their Mobile Devices

Teenagers are using their mobile devices even more now. A recent study from Nielsen showed that texting remains to be a favorite activity among teenagers 13 to 17 years old. They found that teenagers on the average send close to 3,500 text messages in a single month, or seven text messages for every hour.

That number is lower than the 3,729 text messages sent in the same period last year. Teen girls texted close to 4,000 messages per month in the third quarter of 2011, while the boys sent “only” a little more than 2,800 messages a month.

Data usage is on the rise for teenagers as well, totaling 320 megabytes of data per month for the quarter in question. This represented a 256% rise in data usage from the year before. Males used 382 megabytes while females used 266 megabytes on the average.

While that is amazing, adults 25 to 34 years old tops the teens with 578 megabytes used per month.

Teenagers often use their mobile phones to:

1. Text.

2. Surf the Internet.

3. Update their social networking sites.

4. Read and write emails.

5. Download and use apps.

On the other hand, voice calls are declining. Teenagers now call 17% less from a year ago, using only 572 minutes of call time. That was 685 minutes a year ago.

The Nielsen study indicates one thing: if you are a business owner who’s targeting teenagers, then it is best to be on mobile apps, mobile sites and do other mobile activities to reach them.

However, this is not just for teens. All age groups reported an increase in mobile data usage from last year. For instance, adults aged 18-24 saw a 147% increase in mobile data usage to 534 megabytes, while those 65 years old and above now use 70 megabyte of data, representing a 133% increase.

In contrast, seniors above the age of 65 are sending less text messages, averaging only 64 messages sent and received. It seems that the older the person, the less text messages he exchanges.