Amanda Lenhart to the International Communications Association Annual Meeting. This presentation dives into the demographics of teen and adult social network users and looks at how youth use of social networks compares to use by adults, both in frequency, but also in purpose and behavior. 5/23/09

1. It’s Personal: Similarities and Differences in Online Social Network Use Between Teens and Adults Amanda Lenhart The Role of Social Network Sites in the Lives of Young People @ ICA May 23, 2009 Chicago, IL

8. Teens & Adults: Use networks for friendships Source: Adult internet user data comes from the Pew Internet & American Life Project May 2008 Tracking Survey. The n for internet users is 1,553 and the margin of error is ±3%. Teen data is from the Teen & Parent survey fielded in Oct-December 2006. Margin of error is ± 4% for online teens. *This question was posed slightly differently to teens: “Do you ever use [social networking] sites to stay in touch with friends you see a lot?” There was also a complementary question asked of teens: “Do you ever use those sites to stay in touch with friends you rarely see in person” and 82% of teens who use social networks responded yes. 17 20 Flirt n/a 28 Promote yourself or your work n/a 28 Make new business or professional contacts n/a 43 Organize with others for an event, issue or cause 49 49 Make new friends 72 57 Make plans with friends 91% 89% Stay in touch with friends* Teens Adults Do you use your online profile to…? Adults & teens use online networks to say in touch with pre-existing friends

9. Teens say harder to find them online Source: Adult data comes from the Pew Internet & American Life Project May 2008 Tracking Survey. n=328 social network users and the margin of error for those users is ±6%. Teen data is from the Teen & Parent survey fielded in Oct-December 2006. Margin of error is ± 4% for online teens. 36 20 Very difficult for someone to find me 40 33 Someone would have to work at it, but eventually they would find me 23% 43% Pretty easy to find me Teens Adults How easy would it be to find out who you are from your social network profile? Many adults believe they are “findable”

11. Thank You! Reports: Adults & Social Networks and Teens, Games and Civics Amanda Lenhart [email_address] http://www.pewinternet.org