If your teenager spends more time online these days than ever, they're just following the crowd.
Twenty-four percent of today's teens are online "almost constantly" and 92 percent are on every day, according to a new Pew Research Center study.
The main driver is the smartphone, states the report, which reveals 56 percent of teens, those who are 13 to 17 years old, go on the Internet several times a day while 12 percent hit it once a day, 6 percent go online once a week and 2 percent rarely go online.
"Much of this frenzy of access is facilitated by mobile devices," as three quarters of teens own or have access to a smartphone, 30 percent have a regular cell phone, and 12 percent have no mobile phone of any sort.
African-American teenagers are the top demographic group when it comes to having a smartphone, with 85 percent having a device. That's likely why they report more frequent Internet use, with 34 percent of them going online "almost constantly." In comparison, 32 percent of Hispanic teens and 19 percent of white teens hit the Internet on that pace.
When it comes to teens' favorite online spots, the reports about Facebook's waning popularity among young consumers apparently aren't true, at least according to Pew's report. Facebook is the most popular among 41 percent of teens polled, with Instagram and Snapchat landing in close second and third (20 percent and 11 percent respectively) as favorite media platforms, and 71 percent of teens use more than one social media site.
"Teens are diversifying their social network site use. A majority of teens - 71% - report using more than one social network site out of the seven platform options they were asked about," states the report.
The study reveals teen males hit Facebook most, and teen females hit Instagram more than male counterparts.
"As American teens adopt smartphones, they have a variety of methods for communication and sharing at their disposal," notes the report.
Texting is a top mode of communication among teens, with the typical teen sending and receiving 30 texts every day.
