Teens and Social Media: Research Stats

Over 17.7 million teens (12 to 17 year olds) will be using social networking sites by 2011, according to eMarketer.

As was expected, U.S. teens (10 to 15 year olds) use of social networking sites, in most segments grew from 2006 to 2007.

The percentage of girls, both in the age categories of 10 to 12 years old and 13 to 15 years old, continues to be higher than the boys.

Specifically, according to research from Harris Interactive’s “Trends and Tudes” (April 2008), for boys ages 10 to 12 years old participation in social networking sites totaled 8 percent in 2006, reaching 17 percent participation in 2007. For boys ages 13 to 15 years old in 2006 had social networking participation of 38 percent, which grew to 46 percent in 2007.

Additionally, for girls ages 10 to 12 years old had participation in social networking sites of 11 percent in 2006, reaching 27 percent in 2007. However, for girls age 13 to 15 years old, participation fell from 57 percent in 2006 to 54 percent in 2007.