Teens and Generation Y (internet users age 18-32) are the most likely groups to use the internet for entertainment and for communicating with friends and family. These younger generations are significantly more likely than their older counterparts to seek entertainment through online videos, online games, and virtual worlds, and they are also more likely to download music to listen to later. Internet users ages 12-32 are more likely than older users to read other people’s blogs and to write their own; they are also considerably more likely than older generations to use social networking sites and to create profiles on those sites.² Younger internet users often use personal blogs to update friends on their lives, and they use social networking sites to keep track of and communicate with friends.³ Teen and Generation Y users are also significantly more likely than older generations to send instant messages to friends.

By a large margin, teen internet users’ favorite online activity is game playing; 78% of 12-17 year-old internet users play games online,⁴ compared with 73% of online teens who email, the second most popular activity for this age group. Online teens are also significantly more likely to play games than any other generation, including Generation Y, only half (50%) of whom play online games.