The Pew Internet Project’s recent report on Teens and Social Media¹⁸ identified a group known as multi-channel teens. These “super communicators” are defined by their usage of numerous tools—the internet, instant messaging, text messaging, cell phones and social networking sites—to communicate with friends, and they are much more likely than other teens to communicate daily across a range of media.

Although multi-channel teens communicate with friends across a range of platforms and technologies, their personal (non-school) writing habits are nearly identical to those of teens with more traditional communications habits. The only type of writing for which multi-channel teens differ significantly from other teens is in journal writing—45% of multi-channel teens keep a journal, compared with 29% for all other teens.

Multi-channel teens are also strikingly similar to other teens with respect to how much they enjoy their non-school writing, as well as the frequency with which they write for personal or non-school reasons.