Cellphones the key to teen cool, study says

Teens are notoriously judgmental. Wear the wrong shade of jeans, and you'll be branded L for Loser for the rest of your life. But today's teens might have it even harder: Now they have to have just the right cellphone too.

A study released today at the CTIA trade show by Harris Interactive and CTIA-the Wireless Assn., shows that teens say that after clothing, a cellphone tells the most about a person's social status or popularity. That means that having an iPhone, say, will give you more cool points than if you have hip jewelry, swanky watches or Kobe's shoes. Having the latest cellphone is "absolutely essential," according to 28% of all teens and 34% of kids 13 to 15 years old.

About 4 of every 5 teens carry cellphones, up 40% from 2004, and nearly half of them say having a cellphone is "key to my social life." They've turned into teenage mutant ninja texters: 42% of the teens surveyed said they could text while blindfolded. Surprisingly, male teens talk on their phones more than they text, while females text more than they talk.

Advertisers will be happy to know that 59% of teens would be willing to provide personal information to wireless providers so that they can receive targeted text messages, and about 40% of teens believe that mobile phones should be free and paid for by advertisers, kind of like television.

"As the first generation born into a wireless society, how [teens] use their cellphones and what they expect of these devices in the future will drive the next wave of innovation in our industry," said Steve Largent, president and chief executive of CTIA-the Wireless Assn.

So what do teens expect of these devices? If Largent's right and what teens want is what we'll see down the road, the next generation of cellphones will be shock- and waterproof and scratch free, and will be able to control appliances in the home, translate any language in seconds and talk back when we ask it questions. Oh, and it will also be able to read our brain waves, which some of us might think is creepy, but evidently teens think is cool.

Mom and Dad, sounds as if it's time to up the allowance. A multilingual cellphone that can control the blender might be pretty expensive, but you don't want your teen to be uncool, right?

-- Alana Semuels

Photo: drumsnwhistles via Flickr

Comments

[steveballmer]

Only WinMoble is considered cool too

[ale]

how stupid

[Ted]

I have to comment on the latest in useless studies. Instead of having all dumb kids today worry about their social lifes, and what the latest fashions the celebrities are wearing, maybe they should actually concentrate on doing some homework, and passing with great grades. Parents play a HUGE roll in this problem. Most parents have no backbone when it comes to their kids...the word 'no' is not in their vocabulary. As a parent, my kids do not have cell phones, and will not until they are able to pay for it themselves.

[Paul]

Texting blindfolded is easy, you just need to memorize the 12 keys, its not hard. I sometimes have to send messages with my phone in my pocket during school.

[Alysyn]

My eleven year old step-son's mother bought him and his nine-year old sister cell phones, which probably put her out about $150 (or more). They both lost their phones within two months. Lesson: DON'T BUY YOUR KID A CELL PHONE!!!!

[Max Pelletier]

I'm a teen, in this article you show that YOU are notoriously judgmental. I have no cellphone because I don't need one and I'm not a loser. I have a social life even if I have no cellphone.
You're studies are in the left field, less than 20% of teens have a cellphone.

[Olivier Roy]

I think that you adults are judgemental. Look what you think from us. These studies are not not for all the places in the world. People are not more popular beacause they have cellphones. Having an Iphone does not give some more points. Do not tell me that having an Iphone is useful. Nobody needs this. There are phones everywhere we go.

I like how we are. You have to understand that we are not from the same generation as you. We changed a lot. We do not have to be like our parents. That's it.

[Étienne racine]

I think that what you wrote is just a lie because you don't have the time to write a construct and intelligent text for the 12 September(the date that text was publicated). I'm not a Loser because I don't have a cellphones. Where did you find that? And excuse me but we are not mutant ninja because we can do a text blindfolded. In my school,I think, only 15% to 20% of the student have a cellphones.

I think that you are judgmental because you say that we are mutant just because we are different.

[Éva-Marie Cloutier]

Hi...Alana Semuels,

I have some negative comments about your article. First, i think it's totally not intelligent to say that all teenagers are "mutant ninja texters", because you don't seem to realise that there are different kinds of teenagers. Some of them may be "mutant ninja texters" but others really don't need a cellphone or an another technology's stuff to sorvive! And it's not true that having a cellphone make teenagers popular...because i know some teenagers who have a cellphone but aren't popular at all! And being popular it's very not important...

I hope that you understand my point of view!

Éva-Marie Cloutier, 14 (Canada, Québec)

[Jessica]

A cell phone doesn't a teenager cool. I know plenty of popular kids who have less than cool phones, but even though it helps, if your already low on the social scale, having a iphone isn't going to make you any cooler.

[Lance]

I hope students will be able to run this world in 20 years even though they have no interest in education. I am a college teacher and I assure you, most of my students hear nothing that I say because they are constantly sending text messages. Even when I stop my lesson to ask a student to put away her phone, she doesn't hear me at all because 100 percent of her attention is on the gossip she is getting on her phone. When Ted says "I sometimes have to send messages with my phone in my pocket during school," I am not at all surprised at his saying "HAVE TO". Of course, he doesn't really have to. He just feels such strong pressure to maintaining social bonds he can't help but text rather than listen to the lesson.

[Philippe Langlois]

Dear Alana Semuels,

I read this article and I'm definitely not agreeing on it's content.In my point of view, you based it on movies! In high school movies, we saw the coolest people with cellphones but in the real life, it's not like that. In the most popular teens of my school, only a couple have a cellphone!

I think you should read what you wrote before publishing it. You said that teens are judgemental but the adults are also. They need to have a nice car to prove that they're rich... Isn't that judgemental!!!

[Mayillah Ezekiel]

I don’t think that the content of this article is completely true. What you wrote is certainly based on stereotypes, which we see in American movies with popular and rich teenagers using cellphones. The study that was made is only for a part of the United States. It isn’t even worldwide.

Personally, I do not think that a cellphone can demonstrate the social life or the popularity of a person. A cellphone does not make a person « Cooler ».

You may say that we’re " notoriously judgmental " but to treat us of « mutant ninja texters » demonstrate that you adults are also judgmental. Often, adults judge us very easily on the way we dress or speak.

[Bruno Bertilotti Barreto]

Alana Semuels, please, explain me what’s on your mind. Cell phones are an instrument to be cool, seriously? Please. People who say that for them theirs cell phones are the key to their social life, are the ones who don’t think before talking. That’s the typical type of thinking that comes from a Hollywood movie’s teenager. Do you really think a teenager will be the coolest person of the school just because he or she has an I Phone? That’s just ridiculous. I have a cell phone and that doesn’t make a difference in my social life. All it does is that if I have any problem, I can call for help to whoever I want. To be honest with you, my friend Alana Semuels, I think you are hallucinating. I’m even surprised that you have the courage to put an article like that in the Los Angeles Times.

[Bruno Bertilotti Barreto]

Alana Semuels, please, explain me what’s on your mind. Cell phones are an instrument to be cool, seriously? Please. People who say that for them theirs cell phones are the key to their social life, are the ones who don’t think before talking. That’s the typical type of thinking that comes from a Hollywood movie’s teenager. Do you really think a teenager will be the coolest person of the school just because he or she has an I Phone? That’s just ridiculous. I have a cell phone and that doesn’t make a difference in my social life. All it does is that if I have any problem, I can call for help to whoever I want. To be honest with you, my friend Alana Semuels, I think you are hallucinating. I’m even surprised that you have the courage to put an article like that in the Los Angeles Times.

[Elie Tremblay]

Hey Alana Semuels!
Hope you enjoyed your article because I think you may be the only one!
what were you thinking about!
Do you really know something about this subject or have you chosen something just to satisfy your boss?
I'm a teen I a don't have a cellphone!
And I think there's a lot of people like me and you should accept this reality!
Where are your facts!
Show me the money and then I'll belive you
But don't be mistaken! I'm not saying your a bad journalist or a bad person!
I'm juste telling you to think twice before publishing something
I hope you enjoyed my post!:)
Elie

[Alexandra Picard]

Seriously , I do not think that a cellphone tells the most about the popularity or about the social life of someone. Can a cellphone make a person « cooler » ?
I really don't think so . Because if it was true , don't you think that everybody would have one ?

How can you say that we're « notoriously judgmental » ?
You just said that we were « mutant ninja texters » !
Who's the most judmental now ?
Think about it.

[Laurie Chouinard]

Hello Alana Semuels,

Hahaha , you tell us judgmentals. Well , i think you're. You said that we aren't cool if we don't have cellphones. I think this is false. I have a cellphone and i don't even use it for texting and it don't means that i'm uncool ! I think you based your article on like 5 % of teenagers now. It's not possible that somebody texts more that he talks..Well this person's really strange if she exist. If this vision of life exist, It's not everywhere in the world, that's sure !

[Francis L'H]

Hi Alana Semuels,

I'm writing to you about the article who was 3/4 false. Fisrt you have some studies that say that teens most have a cellphone and always talk on it or text. I don't have one and I don't see the neccesity to have one. If I have to talk to someone I go see him face to face. Also, I don't think I'm a loser because of that and I don't care if my friends have one. I don't eaven know if they have one.

I have a question, did you go in a school to see or did you just go on Internet and take some studies. You should take all of the comments in consideration.

bye

I think that you generalized the situation. ¨The teen's generation of today is tired of being criticized by adults. Have you realized the magnitude of gesture that you made when you said that we were a generation of mutants? It’s just not acceptable. You all think that teenagers judge others by the way they dress, but it's not true. Most of teens don't need to have a cellphone to have a good social life. Look around you and you’ll see!

[Sandrine Richard]

Seriously... When I first read your article, I thought you were kidding. I cannot believe how judgmental your position on teenagers is. As I can see, some of my fellows already expressed their disagreement and their bitterness regarding your article. Come on, how can you think that a cellphone makes you popular. A cellphone is so not the key to our social life. There is lots of others ways to connect with our people.

I really think that some of your words were offensive. Before saying such things, you should have looked around and you would have seen by yourself that you were wrong.

Hope you will do better the next time,
Kind regards,

Sandrine

[Sarah Duguay]

I think that by writting this article, you are more judgmental than us. I'm 14 years old and I have a cellphone, but I never use the text messages and I never spend hours on talking with my friends. I don't have lastest cellphone and I'm not a looser, I have friends who don't have cellphone and they are not looser. I don't know where come from your studies, but all I can tell you it's : that everything is FALSE!

[Kim G.]

Hi Alala Semuels,

I disagree with you're article. The fist time I read it I thought that it was a joke . You said that teenagers are judgmental . Well I think you should look at your article . You talked about us like if you know everything about teens . As a teenager , I can tell you the truth . If someone has not a cellphone that's not mean that this person is uncool .We don't care about who has a cellphone or not . The next time you wrote an article , I think you should research more about the subject !

[Alexandre S.-M.]

Hi Alana Semuels,
Where I live, it's a minority of people who have a cellphone. Your point of view is totally judgmental. What you write about teens is false. We are less judgmental than adults, your attitude shows it. Most of the teens I know don't have a cellphone and are cool. I can't imagine someone always having the latest cellphone. There's a new one each week! The "coolness" is not based on jeans shapes and cellphones, but on a lot of factors. You should go in a high school somewhere on Planet Earth to see that we are not as "cellphoned" as you think. I hope you will read all the comments. I can't believe a serious newspaper published an article like this one.

[Élisabeth]

Seriously, I really don't agree with your point of view, I'm a teen and I could say that we don't need a cellphone to be cool at our school. We are not mutant ninja texters. This is a judgmental point of view. We only want a cell phone like an adult would want a new car! We are a little bit frustrated of this judgment about us.
I hope that you understand our point of view!
Élisabeth, Québec, Canada