By Lauren Rogoff

A recent survey of 799 teenagers uncovered some interesting results in the technological habits of our adolescent nieces and nephews.

27% of teenagers record and upload videos to the internet - there is no difference in this percentage between boys and girls - and 13% stream live video for public internet consumption. Teenagers who use social media sites are more likely to video chat. And, unsurprisingly, most teens participate in social media. 77% of all teens and 80% of internet-using teens said they use social networking sites like Facebook; 16% said they use Twitter. Check out some thoughts about friending nieces and nephews here.

While girls were found to be more likely than boys to video chat, 7% of teenage internet users participate in video chats, using programs like Skype, Google Talk and iChat. Streaming video is also gaining more popularity, especially amongst social media users  – 14% of teenagers who used social media streamed video, compared with 5% who didn’t use social network. Again, plugged-in Twitter users were the most likely to stream, with 25% reporting that they used streaming video.

Teenagers also watch the most videos from their seemingly ever-present mobile devices, watching almost twice as much as average. "The media experience is broadening for all consumers, not just teens," said Nic Covey, director of insights for The Nielsen Company, who has also been continually studying teenage internet habits. "Looking at our research across markets and media, we see that, contrary to popular assumption, teens are actually pretty normal in their usage, and more attentive than most give them credit for."

So what does this mean for your niece or nephew? Most likely, it means they’re pretty savvy when it comes to technology and might even be able to teach you a thing or two.  If you’re an  LDA (Long Distance Auntie), this might mean that you can get to see your niece’s or nephew’s face more often by setting up times to video chat, which can make you feel even closer. Of course, the internet is still as fraught with hidden dangers as ever. As a Savvy Auntie, you might be in a good position to remind nieces and nephews of some internet dangers: strangers who aren’t honest about who they are and might want to prey on teenagers, identity theft and fraud, and a more immediate but perhaps less obvious danger – that the record of what we put online is permanent. If your niece or nephew streams a video to the public, posts a blog, or puts revealing information or pictures on social media, remind them that it can be found, by anyone, forever. Check out some tips on how to include technology in a well-balanced day for your niece or nephew here. As this study shows, technology usage is a way of life for teens – so let’s make sure that our nieces and nephews know how to use it responsibly!

Photo: Sujin Jetkasettakorn
Published: May 28, 2012