Nearly 50% of Teens Now Online 'Almost Constantly'

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on Business Insider.

Nearly half of US teens report being online on a near constant basis, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

The report, titled "Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018,"surveyed teens and their parents about their internet and social media usage.

The survey found that teens are spending more time online than ever before. In fact, 45% of the teens surveyed said they use the internet "almost constantly." Another 44% said they go online several times every day.

But it wasn't an even split along gender lines. Pew found that half of teenage girls fall into the group of constant internet users, while 39% of teenage boys said they fell into that group. Hispanic teens also reported higher levels of internet usage, with 54% saying they use the internet on a near-constant basis.

The time teens spend online has gone up significantly since Pew's 2014-2015 study. Back then, only 24% of teens reported being online constantly, which means teen internet usage has nearly doubled in the last 3-4 years. Pew estimates that the drastic increase is related to the increased access to smartphones.

Source: Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/pew-research-center-study-teen-internet-usage-2018-5