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August 8, 2013

Internet overtakes texting among 16-24 year olds

Young people would rather use social networking and are more likely to share news online.

By Claire Vanner

According to OfCom, web-based forms of communication, such as email, instant messaging or social networking is now the most popular method of communication among younger people.

More than 84% of 16-24 year olds use at least one of these methods on weekly basis, more than texting on a mobile phone (80%).

The most popular forms of weekly web-based communication among this age group are social networking (66%) and instant messaging (48%). 35% use micro-blogging sites on a weekly basis.

Younger people are also more likely than older users to think it acceptable to share information via text.

While 39% of all UK adults think that it acceptable to share good news through public text communication methods, such as posting on open social networking sites, this rises to 61% of 16-24 year olds.

In 2012, it was reported that UK phone users were more likely to text someone on their mobile than make a phone call. 58% of people texted daily, while only 47% made a phone call every day.

The development of smartphones and mobile technology now means that internet communication is preferable to texting and making calls.

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