For this 2010 study, the NAA Foundation engaged the New Media Innovation Lab at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University to learn how much young people value having smartphones, what content consumes their time and what types of information they seek when accessing the Internet through these mobile devices.
On a day-to-day basis, this demographic uses smartphones to: connect with friends through texting, telephone calls and, more rarely, e-mail; connect to social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter; listen to music, watch videos and play games; and plan nights out, weekends and other activities.
The study also found that these youths are interested in news. They check social networks for local information, and more than two-thirds said they visit news websites regularly through their smartphones. Sites not designed for mobile viewing turn them off, and these users are not likely to return to them.
To learn more, download the executive summary and full report.