Being early adapters and trendsetters, teenagers prefer staying ahead of the group. According to the CBSNews.com poll, adolescents generally spend 2.9 hours daily on using the Internet. They are the most avid surfers of the Internet and 68% of them use it for social networking.

Social networking is extremely popular among youth. Generally, they spend an hour each day to post or examine postings. Tagged.com, TheFacebook.com, Xanga.com, and MySpace.com belong to the teenagers’ widely-known sites for social networking. According to USA Today’s published reports, approximately 65% of US college undergraduates have accounts with TheFacebook.com while approximately 900,000 high school learners are members of Xanga.com and MySpace.com.

A survey done by Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that older teenagers, specifically girls, are more engaged in social networking. From a girl’s viewpoint, these sites are for reinforcement of pre-existing friendships. Meanwhile, boys see these networks as an opportunity to flirt and to meet new friends. The extroversion made possible by social networking facilitates the teens’ aim of experimentation and self-expression. These sites enable them to upload their images and thoughts and create their own profiles. They communicate with new persons online and with their friends in real life. Some have hundreds of friends in Facebook and MySpace.

owever, teenagers can go too far at times. Occasionally, teens do not anticipate the outcomes of their posts online. Teenagers have technical skills but they often do not have the general wisdom or skills to conduct themselves wisely in online public forums. Supervision by and communication with parents and programme leaders are needed to teach teenagers the proper behaviour online.