Another Look at Teen Tech Communication

It turns out that most teens are far more sophisticated in their use of technology for personal communication than Britney Spears. Not surprised? Me neither.

I'm not talking about her recent deft use of an electric razor, but of the well-documented public breakup with Kevin Federline via text message. Harris Interactive found that two in three teens (67 percent) would not break up with someone over a phone, email, IM, text message, or social-networking site. Though many (34 percent) would use their cell phones to talk over something important with friends, cell phones are used more often for making social plans with friends.

The survey is an interesting snapshot, especially next to the dating abuse survey I wrote about that shows technology can be overused and abused in young relationships. What both show is how central cell phones are to teen communication, though, clearly, not for all teens. Good old-fashioned landlines are still used by 69 percent of teens to call friends and make plans.

Check out the entire survey here, which takes in kids between the ages of 8 and 18. (It's a PDF file.)

Related:

High-Tech Break-ups
Cell Phones Can Aid Teen Dating Abuse