pew

Did you renew your driver's license or pay your last parking ticket online? If so, you're part of a growing number of people in the U.S. taking advantage of government services on the Internet.

A poll of more then 2,000 American adults late last year found that 82 percent of Internet users, or 61 percent of all U.S. adults, looked up information or made a transaction on a government Web site in the past year. The results of the poll, conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and released Tuesday, also discovered that … Read more

Like previous generations, today's teens seem to be constantly on the phone. But now they're doing a lot more texting than talking.

One third of teens in the U.S. text more than 100 times a day, according to a study released Tuesday by Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Based on a survey and focus groups conducted with teenagers between 12 and 17, Pew found that text messaging is by far the most common way that kids communicate with each other, more than chatting on the phone, e-mailing, using social-networking sites, or talking face to face.

More … Read more

A teenager talking or texting on his or her cell phone while driving is a fear for parents and other drivers alike. According to a new study by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, 25 percent of U.S. teens aged 16 to 17 who have cell phones admitted to texting while driving, and twice as many say they have been in the car with someone that has.

A new cell phone application, by Cell Cease, aims to limit this distraction. Cell Cease, which works exclusively on Windows phones, blocks calls and texts while a vehicle … Read more

Though it may not always feel like it, the Internet is actually making us smarter, at least according to a new survey of scientists, business leaders, and technology developers.

A collection of 900 experts interviewed for the Pew Internet report The Future of the Internet IV, released last Friday, were asked their views on how the Internet is affecting us--now and in another 10 years. Though most felt that the Internet can and would improve our reading, writing, and overall grasp of knowledge, some were reluctant to jump on that bandwagon.

"Three out of four experts said our use … Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C.--A study conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project found a decline of blogging among teens and younger adults, and a small increase in blogging among adults over 30.

The study, published Wednesday, also found that only 8 percent of teenagers are using Twitter, though among high-school girls, the number climbs to 13 percent. Not surprisingly, social networking continues to grow among all age groups. Seventy-three percent of online teens use social-networking sites, compared to 55 percent in 2006.

For a summary and analysis of the survey, I spoke with study director Amanda Lenhart after she … Read more

As social-media sites like Facebook grow in popularity among teenagers and young adults, good ol' blogging has declined sharply over the past three years for this set, a new report shows.

In 2006, 28 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 and young adults ages 18 to 29 were bloggers, according to survey results released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. By the fall of 2009, however, these numbers dropped to 14 percent of teens and 15 percent of young adults. During the same period, the percentage of online adults over 30 who are blogging rose from 7 percent in … Read more

Despite increased publicity over the dangers of texting while driving, many teenagers (like many adults) have yet to get the message.

A third of cell phone users aged 16 and 17 admitted to texting while driving, according to focus groups and a report released Monday by Pew Research. For the report, "Teens and Distracted Driving," Pew surveyed 800 kids aged 12 to 17 about their cell phone use in the car. Teens 16 and 17 years old were asked about their role as drivers, while younger ones were questioned about their experiences as passengers.

Of all teens surveyed, … Read more

A new study released on Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project has found some rather interesting tidbits of information about social network users.

According to the study, 19 percent of Web surfers use "Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others." According to the organization, its earlier findings in April 2009 found that just 11 percent of Internet users were using a status-update service.

But the reason why there has been such an uptick in status updates has much to do with the users themselves, Pew found. According to the organization, the growth is being driven by "social network Web site users, those who connect to the Internet via mobile devices, and younger Internet users--those under age 44."

The study found that 33 percent of those who are updating their status range in age between 18 and 29. Those aged between 30 and 49 make up 22 percent of the group. Just 13 percent of those who update their status are 50 years of age or older.

Pew determined that the Twitter user's median age is 31. MySpace's median age is now 26, down from 27 in May 2008. LinkedIn has also gotten younger by a year, featuring a median age of 39. But Facebook is one of the few social networks to buck the youth trend, upping its median age to 33, from 26 in May 2008.… Read more

A few days ago, the Pew Research Center released a report that Americans are looking online to fight the recession. On Tuesday it added that most of us are doing that via wireless Internet.

The results of the center's Internet & American Life Project survey show that 56 percent of adult Americans have accessed the Internet via wireless means, such as a Wi-Fi laptop, a mobile device, a game console, or an MP3 player. The most popular way people get online wirelessly is with a laptop computer, numbering 39 percent of some 2,200 survey participants.

The report also … Read more