Teens Turn On, Tune In, Log Off

Baldwin Louie — Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:00:00 -0700

Teen-agers buy a lot of stuff and will buy even more stuff in the near future, so it's no wonder that marketers closely watch their online behavior to identify early trends in mainstream media and product consumption.

The first trend revealed is not surprising, though it can perhaps be interpreted as a sign of relief in these troubled Web times: American teens overall are more likely to be Net users than adults. More than 17 million teens, or three-fourths of all U.S. kids ages 12 to 17, go online each month, according to market research firm Cyber Dialogue. Conversely, only 42 percent of adults surf the Web at least once a month.

Another trend, however, comes as a bit of a surprise: Despite the perception that kids have ditched baseball and the mall in favor of the Web, kids actually spend less time online than adults do. According to Jupiter Media Metrix, U.S. adults spend an average of 837 minutes on the Web in April - three times the number of minutes teen-agers spend online. Teens also tend to access the Web less frequently than adults, going online an average of eight days per month, compared with the 15 days per month that adults access the Web.

What gives? Even if they spend less time on the Web, teen-agers are apt to try more online activities than adults. Three-quarters of them use instant messaging, compared with 44 percent of adults. More than half download music online, while only 29 percent of adults have done so. Even more surprising still, teen-agers are more likely to read news and check sports scores online than adults.

So teens tend to get what they need on the Web and then get off, whereas adults tend to wander around cyberspace, perhaps aimlessly. Yet for all their focus, few teenagers are putting money into the pockets of Net retailers. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project study, only 31 percent of teenagers have ever purchased a product online, compared with 53 percent of adults.

But then again, most of the teenagers online have yet to get their first credit card.

ALMOST THREE FOURTHS OF U.S. TEENS ARE ONLINE
Distribution of Web Users vs. Total Population By Age Group
	Total	Online	Percent Online
Teens	23.8	17.4	73%
Adults	202.1	84.9	42%
In millions. Represents Internet users who go online at least once a month. Source: Cyber Dialogue, December 2000

TEENS SPEND LESS TIME ONLINE THAN ADULTS
Avg. Monthly Net Use Minutes
DATE	TEENS	ADULTS
06/00	321	728
11/00	272	858
04/01	264	837
Avg. Monthly Net Use Days
DATE	TEENS	ADULTS
06/00	8.6	14.7
11/00	8.9	15.7
04/01	8.5	15.3
Source: Jupiter Media Metrix, June 2001

YAHOO DRAWS SEVEN MILLION TEENS
Top Web Sites Among U.S. Teens For June 2001
Ranked By Teen Concentration	Percent Concentration
1 Teen.com	67.1%
2 Teenpeople.com	66.9%
3 Katrillion.com	66.8%
4 Sparknotes.com	66.3%
5 Badassbuddy.com	65.9%
6 Blink182.com	64.7%
7 Coolquiz.com	62.7%
8 Teenmag.com	62.7%
9 Teenchat.com	61.4%
10 Seventeen.com	60.9%
Top Trafficked Sites And Teen Reach	Unique Visitors*
1 Yahoo	7.2
2 AOL	7.0
3 MSN	6.2
4 Passport.com	4.7
5 Geocities.com	3.8
6 Microsoft.com	2.4
7 Go.com	2.0
8 EBay	1.6
9 Amazon.com	1.3
10 Netscape.com	1.3
*In millions. Based on Net users who go online from home. Source: Nielsen NetRatings, July 2001

TEENS ARE MORE LIKELY TO READ NEWS ONLINE
Teen Activities Online
	TEENS	ADULTS
Send, receive email	92%	93%
Go online for fun	84%	63%
Search for movie, leisure information	83%	65%
Use instant messaging	74%	44%
Read news	68%	66%
Play, download games	66%	34%
Research products	66%	73%
Listen to music online	59%	40%
Visit chat rooms	55%	26%
Download music	53%	29%
Check sports information	47%	38%
Buy products	31%	53%
Search health information	26%	57%
Based on a survey of more than1,500 U.S. teens and adults. Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, June 2001

The Industry Standard - Teens Turn On, Tune In, Log Off - Comments

Teens Turn On, Tune In, Log Off