Tech-savvy tweens

Ten years ago, 8-12 year olds were carting clunky Game Boys and checking the happiness stats on their virtual pets. Today's tweens leave yesterday's tweens in the dust of obsolete technology, a recent study found.

The Nielsen Company study looked at tweens' mobile media and cross media behavior. It found that 35% of 8-12 year olds own their own cell phone. Twenty percent have used text messaging, and 5% have used their phone to access the Internet.

Tweens spend less time on the Internet, and they're deserting TVs, CD players, and even computers. In Slate, Chad Lorenz noted that teens are abandoning email in favor of texting, IM, Facebook and MySpace. The Chronicle said colleges are creating podcasts and MySpace pages to communicate with students who think email's passé.

The news prompts culture-watchers to think about the impact on communication and social interaction. Lorenz muses, "Email provides the breathing room to contemplate what we're writing and express nuanced thoughts. … Instant messages, on the other hand, are like Post-it notes, handy for a few minutes but hardly worth saving."

Stephen Salyers, assistant professor of communication at The King's College, told WoW that technology may change the way that young people develop friendships and communicate with peers. "We typically befriend and maintain relationships through close proximity," Salyers said, but with texting and IM and Facebook, friendships may change. "Do you create relationships with someone based on how quickly they get back to you or the types of information they're sending you?" Salyers asked.

Technology changes, but human nature doesn't, Salyers said: "In terms of contextual relationship communication I don't think it so much matters. I think the real heart of the matter is people wanting to be known and wanting a certain degree of familiarity."