Text messaging now the main way teens talk: report

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Text messaging has quickly become the primary form of communication among teenagers, reveals a new report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life project.

With three-quarters of all teens now texting, Pew found that 63% of all teens exchange text messages daily.

The amount of texts teens are sending is increasing as well.

The report found that the “volume of texting among teens has risen from 50 texts a day in 2009 to 60 texts for the median teen text user.”

Older teen girls lead the pack as the most voracious texters with 100 texts per day. Boys displayed the largest jump in texting with their frequency spiking from “30 texts daily in 2009 to 50 texts in 2011,” the report found. Black teenagers also reported an increase in their text volume, from 60 to 80 per day.

While 63% of teens say they text everyday, only 39% use their smartphones daily to make phone calls. Landline phones have declined in popularity as well, with 31% of teens saying they never talk on a landline with friends.

The survey also found that only 35% communicate face-to-face daily outside of school.

But those who text the most also talk the most.

Some 69% of “heavy texters,” who send more than 100 texts per day, chat with their friends on the phone daily, says Pew.

The study also found that more teens own smartphones than ever before with 23% of all those ages 12-17, and 31% of those ages 14-17.