Teens Prefer IM, Adults Prefer Their Blackberries

Ypulse readers know that teens are "over email" and mainly use it as a way to communicate with the adults in their lives. AOL did research confirming that IM beats email with teens and that they are using it to share files:

"The report, based on a survey of 1,513 IM users, also found that 72% of teen respondents send IMs more than e-mails. In addition, 20% of teens who use instant messaging say they can't imagine doing without the service. What do teens use IM for? More than half (56%) of teen respondents use IM services to share photos, while 33% share music and video via IM."

But what's more interesting is this article, originally published in the Wall Street Journal, reversing the recent stereotype of totally wired teens tuning out the world with their laptops, phones and iPods. It seems many adults have their own gadget obsession — the Blackberry or what self professed addicts call the "Crackberry." And this time it's the kids who are upset — even Arianna Huffington's teen daughter! From the article:

"Even in the context of close relationships, the issue is thorny. Christina Huffington, 17 years old and the older daughter of the Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington, introduced the topic of her mom's constant emailing during a session with the family therapist. Her mother carries two BlackBerrys with her at all times. She looks at them while shopping and doing the downward-dog pose in yoga practice. 'I had the feeling that my mom never listened to me,' Christina says. The therapist advised that the family dinner table be an email-free zone. Still, Christina has her own BlackBerry - a gift from her mother - and she often uses it to communicate with her mom."

Related: Media Multi-tasking is on everyone's mind these days and will be revisited by the Kaiser Family Foundation (who produced the big study on this last year titled Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds). From my inbox:

the Kaiser Family Foundation will host a forum, The Teen Media Juggling Act: the Implications of Media Multitasking Among American Youth, on Tuesday, December 12, from noon to 2 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C.

Forum participants will include executives from MTV and eMarketer, a leading cognitive neuroscience researcher, and experts on media use among young people. Panelists will explore such issues as:

* How pervasive is “media multitasking”?
* Why do some young people multitask more than others? Which media are most likely to be multitasked?
* Is multitasking helping young people develop skills at handling multiple streams of information and activity at the same time? Or is it contributing to attention problems among many youth?
* How should media multitasking impact the way organizations try to communicate with young people about public interest issues? What can we learn from the private sector in this regard?

Who: Vicky Rideout, Kaiser Family Foundation vice president and director of Kaiser’s Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health, will provide opening comments and Ulla Foehr, Ph.D. will present findings from the report, Media Multitasking Among American Youth: Prevalence, Predictors and Pairings, she authored on behalf of Kaiser. Rideout will lead a panel discussion that will include:

* Ulla Foehr, Ph.D., co-author of GenerationM: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year Olds and Kids and Media in America
* Jordan Grafman, Ph.D., Chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institute of Health
* Patricia Greenfield, Ph.D., Professor of Developmental Psychology at University of California at Los Angeles
* Ian Rowe, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Public Affairs at MTV Networks
* Debra Williamson, Senior Analyst at eMarketer

I'm told this forum will be recorded and posted online later in the day.

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