How teenagers communicate: 7 things you should know

A study from Ericsson ConsmerLab explored the way teenagers communicate. Do the results jibe with the way the teens in your life behave?

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Besides the parenting implications of turning a blind eye, observing American’s burgeoning adults will help predict their media habits as they grow older—or so says a study this month from Ericsson ConsumerLab.

“As they get older, teenagers start to use communication tools in the same way as adults,” Ann-Charlotte Kornblad, senior advisor at Ericsson ConsumerLab, said in a press release. “They will continue to use ‘their’ tools such as texting, Facebook and video chat, but at the same time, they understand the need to use voice and email as they move into the next stage of their lives.”

For the time being, however, you can rest assured that most teens think land lines and email are lame, according to the study, which interviewed nearly 2,000 teens ages 13 to 17. Ericsson ConsumerLab said the respondents are representative of teens throughout the United States.

Here are seven useful (or at least interesting) takeaways from the study:

Face-to-face communication is tops among teens. The study asked teenagers to rank the methods of communication they would most miss if taken away, and 58 percent cited “in real life” as No. 1. Here’s the full list:

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