Teens Choose Texting to Communicate, Pew Says

Teens send an average of 60 texts a day, making it the most dominant form of communication among adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17, according to a new Pew Research study.

About 75% of all teens are texting, with a whopping 63% saying they exchange text messages every day with people in their lives.

That far surpasses other forms of communication, including the 39% that make calls on cell phones, 35% that socialize face-to-face outside of school, and 29% that send messages on social networks such as Facebook.

The number of teens communicating through instant messaging, landline calls and email is even lower.

In total, texts are up from an average of 50 in 2009, with growth biggest among boys, who are sending an average of 100 a day compared with 60 in 2009, and older girls, who are also sending about 100 a day.

Cell phone use is up to 77% among teens, but has declined 9 points from two years ago among those between the ages of 12 and 13.

Some 23% are using smartphones made by tech giants Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NYSE:GOOG), with ownership highest among older teens and those whose parents have a college education, Pew says.

Perhaps more surprisingly, 16% of all teens have used a tablet computer such as the iPad to go online in the last 30 days, with the number highest among teens with smartphones.