EDUCOMUNICAÇÃO

Adolescentes dos EUA
Maioria usa redes sociais na Internet

O Pew Internet & American Life Project acaba de divulgar alguns resultados de um inquérito feito a adolescentes dos Estados Unidos da América, que conclui que 55 por cento dos "teens" que frequentam a Internet criam perfis e utilizam redes sociais. Da autoria de Amanda Lenhart, o estudo indica que, para as raparigas, essas redes são sobretudo lugares de reforço de amizades pré-existentes, ao passo que para os rapazes as mesmas redes proporcionam oportunidades para novas relações.
Outras conclusões do mesmo estudo, intitulado "Social Networking Websites and Teens: An Overview":

• • "55% of online teens have created a personal profile online, and 55% have used social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook.
• • 66% of teens who have created a profile say that their profile is not visible to all internet users. They limit access to their profiles.
• • 48% of teens visit social networking websites daily or more often; 26% visit once a day, 22% visit several times a day.
• • Older girls ages 15-17 are more likely to have used social networking sites and created online profiles; 70% of older girls have used an online social network compared with 54% of older boys, and 70% of older girls have created an online profile, while only 57% of older boys have done so.
• Teens say social networking sites help them manage their friendships
• • 91% of all social networking teens say they use the sites to stay in touch with friends they see frequently, while 82% use the sites to stay in touch with friends they rarely see in person.
• • 72% of all social networking teens use the sites to make plans with friends; 49% use the sites to make new friends.
• • Older boys who use social networking sites (ages 15-17) are more likely than girls of the same age to say that they use social networking sites to make new friends (60% vs. 46%).
• • Just 17% of all social networking teens say they use the sites to flirt.
• • Older boys who use social networking sites are more than twice as likely as older girls to say they use the sites to flirt; 29% report this compared with just 13% of older girls."