While VL has it’s own MySpace page, anyone who has a profile up on MySpace or Friendster or MiGente or any of the other countless social networking sites knows that those cyberspaces generally cater to two catagories of people: teens and those looking to hook up. A new study shows that more that half of teens use such so called social networking sites.

Older teens, girls in particular, are the most likely to have created online profiles at social networking sites such as MySpace.com and FaceBook.com. The study found that 58% of girls and 51% of boys in the 12 to 17 age group had created an online profile. Among those in the 15- to 17-year-old range, 70% of girls had online profiles compared with 57% of boys.

The reasons teens use social networking sites, according to the study, include maintaining contact with frequently seen friends (91%) and rarely seen friends (82%), social planning (72%), and making new friends (49%). Only 17% say they use such sites to flirt

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I don’t know if I buy that only 17% are flirting online. I suspect it’s more than that or maybe the older you get the more you flirt online?

It would be interesting to see a syudy done regarding teen use of niche social networking sites, for example networking sites that cater to Latinos.

Via / Information Week

Image Via / “>Children Online