## 3 How Do Teens Use Their Mobile Phones? Or, Why Was the Internet Not a Prominent Use? Traditional voice calling is still a fairly common mobile feature used by teens, with the average user placing five calls per day. However, texting is by far the most dominant and fastest growing form of mobile communication for teens in the US. Among teens with mobile phones responding to the 2009 survey, 88% reported ever texting, with one third sending more than 100 texts each day. Other non-Web based utilities are also popular with teens: 83% used their phones to take pictures, 64% shared pictures, 60% listened to music, 46% played games, and 32% shared videos. Mobile internet functions were utilized less frequently. Among those that were utilized, instant messaging (IM) was most popular, although it is likely that many using IM via mobile do so without actually navigating the Web (e.g., with BlackBerry Messenger). Roughly one-quarter of all teens who own mobile phones used them to perform general internet functions and visit social networking sites. The data show that 21% of teens used their phones to email, while just 11% shopped online. Taken together, these figures suggest that teens that accessed the internet via mobile phones in 2009 were in the minority. This begs the question: Why were teens in the US not using their phones to go online when the technology has come to play a central role in their daily life? Insights from the focus group data suggest this comes down to two main factors: Cost and usability. Or, as one respondent put it, \"[The] internet costs more and half the time I am around a computer anyway so there is really no point of having it.\"  
Mobile phone plans that include internet access are expensive, adding between 10 and 35 USD per line per month. This high cost is weighed against the fact that teens often have open access to the internet via Wi-Fi-enabled computers and other gadgets. With computer-enabled internet in the home and wireless internet outside the home, the need for most teens to access the internet with a mobile phone is minimal. Other (perhaps up-scale) devices like Apple's iPod Touch allow teens to use free Wi-Fi to access the internet on the go. As one teen explains, \"Well, we both have the iPod touch or whatever so if we are at school it has like the wireless there and so at lunch and during school or whatever, you can get on internet and stuff and like, there is no charge for that, so...\" Looking at a somewhat different context, 95% of mobile internet traffic in Denmark in 2009 was generated by PC-like devices such as iPads, iPods, and netbooks, with just 5% created by traditional mobile phones [20]. Even teens who have internet access on their phones may prefer Wi-Fi through other devices: \"I use my phone if I am away from home and I can get internet service, I will just use my iPod Touch, but if I, if there is no internet I could connect to, I will just use my phone.\" Thus, teens bypass the cost of mobile internet subscriptions by taking advantage of these cheaper or free options. In addition to the associated expense of mobile internet access and the availability of cheaper or free internet access, the mobile internet is viewed as a slower, clumsier, smaller, and generally lesser internet. As [PERSON] (2010) argues, the traditional internet is designed for mouse navigation and keyboard typing, thus \"finger\" navigation and typing does not allow full utilization [20]. In addition to interface issues, the content can be likewise inferior. As one teen explains, \"I just get on Myspace and usually look up stuff. Like anything. But, it does not like show pictures and videos on [my phone].