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<\/a><\/figure>\nText messaging<\/p><\/strong> \u2013 92% of teens in romantic relationships spent time text messaging with their partner at least occasionally.<\/li>\n
Other common ways in which teens spent time with their romantic partners included video chatting (55% of teens in romantic relationships spent time with their partner in this way); using messaging apps (49%), email (37%) and talking while playing video games together (31%).<\/p>\n\n
Teens in romantic relationships may spend some amount of time with their partners in a wide range of venues, but text messaging stands head and shoulders above all other communication venues when it comes to the frequency<\/em> of those interactions. Fully 72% of teens who have been in a romantic relationship say they spend time text messaging with their partner every day, a proportion that far surpasses any other communication channel in terms of daily usage.<\/p>\n\n By way of comparison, talking on the phone is the second-most-frequently used communication channel among teens in romantic relationships, but just 39% of teens in these relationships talk on the phone every day with their significant other. Similarly, 29% of these teens spend time every day with their partner via instant messaging, 21% do so via social media platforms, 21% spend time together every day in person, and 20% spend time together every day using messaging apps.<\/p>\n\n Older teens ages 15 to 17 spend time with their romantic partners in a wider range of venues than do younger teens ages 13 to 14, especially when it comes to in-person interactions that are more feasible with the increased autonomy that comes with age. Fully 90% of older teens who are in a relationship (or have been in the past) say they spend at least occasional time with their significant other in person and away from school, compared with 75% of younger teens. Older teens are also more likely to report spending time with their significant other talking on the phone (90% vs. 79%), as well as using text messaging (95% vs. 84%). Indeed, 76% of older teens say they spend time with their partner via text messaging \u201cevery day,\u201d compared with 62% of teens ages 13 and 14.<\/p>\n\n Girls and boys tend to spend time with their significant others in similar venues and at similar frequencies. Girls use text messaging with slightly greater frequency than boys within the context of their romantic relationships (79% of girls and 66% of boys say they spend time with their significant other via text message \u201cevery day\u201d); but overall, the vast majority of both boys (92%) and girls (93%) with relationship experience indicate that they spend time with their partner using text messaging at least occasionally.<\/p>\n\n Teen daters from less well-off households use social media more frequently to communicate and spend time with their partners. Some 30% of teens with dating experience who are from households with an annual income of less than $50,000 say they spend time with their significant other by posting on social media sites \u201cevery day,\u201d compared with 17% of teens from higher-income households who communicate via social media with the same frequency. But even as teens from less well-off households communicate with romantic partners via social media more frequently, overall around seven-in-ten teens from both higher- and lower-income households spend time with significant others on social media at least occasionally.<\/p>\n\n Teens from these less well-off households are also more likely to communicate with a significant other using online or instant messaging. This is true both overall (77% of teens with dating experience from these lower-income households do this with their partner at least occasionally, compared with 65% of teens from higher-income households) and as a daily communication tool (39% of less well-off teens communicate with their partner in this way \u201cevery day,\u201d compared with 25% of teens from higher-income households).<\/p>\n\n Along with spending time together in a wide range of venues, teens in romantic relationships also share many types of content online with their significant others. The survey asked about 10 different types of content teens might share, ranging from silly to serious and from the everyday to the highly personal.<\/p>\n\n Humorous or funny material leads the way as the most common type of information teen daters share online with their romantic partners: 85% have shared this type of material. General updates about one\u2019s thoughts, activities, location or friends also are very common. Some 78% of teens with dating experience have shared their personal thoughts online with a significant other; 78% have shared what they are doing, seeing or eating; 74% have shared updates about happenings with their other friends; and 73% have shared information about their location at the time.<\/p>\n\n Other topics that get shared or discussed online are weightier or more sensitive. For instance, half of teen daters have discussed difficulties with family online with their significant other, while 31% have discussed personal health issues in these venues. At the same time, discussions of religion or politics are generally not widespread: Only 22% of these teens have shared religious content online with a significant other, while just 10% have shared political content.<\/p>\n\n Overall, boys and girls share similar types of content online with their significant others \u2013 there are no significant differences between boys and girls on any of the 10 types of content included in the survey. And although there are very few differences between older and younger teens when it comes to the types of material they share online in the context of romantic relationships, older teens are a bit more willing to share certain types of material. In particular, older teens are roughly twice as likely to share personal information about their health with a partner or significant other (36% of older teens with relationship experience have done so, compared with 16% of younger teens). They are also more likely to share information about what they are doing, seeing or eating (81% vs. 69%).<\/p>\n\n Teens who have ever met a partner online report sharing a significantly wider range of content online with a partner or significant other \u2013although they are not necessarily sharing such content with (or solely with) the partner they met online \u2013 compared with those who have not met someone online. Much of this content pertains to general \u201clife logistics\u201d that other teens might share in person, such as:<\/p>\n\n Teens who have ever met someone online are also much more likely to share sensitive information about themselves, and to discuss challenges at home \u2013 though, again, not necessarily with, or solely with, the partner they met online:<\/p>\n\n But even as they share certain types of content at elevated rates, teens who have met someone online are no more likely than other teens to discuss political or religious content online with their significant other, or to share information needed for school.<\/p>\n\n Most teens in romantic relationships assume that they and their partner will check in with each other with great regularity throughout the day. Overall, 85% of teens in a romantic relationship indicate that they expect to hear from their partner or significant other at least once a day, if not more often: 11% expect to hear from their partner hourly, 35% expect to hear something every few hours and 38% expect to hear from them once a day.<\/p>\n\n When asked about their partner\u2019s expectations for communication, a similar pattern emerges. Some 88% of teens in romantic relationships say their partner expects to hear from them at least once a day: 15% say they are expected to check in hourly, 38% are expected to do so every few hours and 35% are expected to do so once a day.<\/p>\n\n These expectations for communication between romantic partners are consistent across a range of demographic groups: There are no significant differences on either of these questions between boys and girls, younger and older teens, those from higher- and lower-income households or those who have met someone online and those who have not.<\/p>\n\n Teens from our focus groups talked about the challenge of managing their partner\u2019s expectations for communication in a highly visible, multiplatform communication environment. As one high school boy noted, \u201cYou\u2019re tweeting but you can\u2019t text me?\u201d<\/em> A high school girl wonders, \u201cIt\u2019s like he made the status and I just texted him. Why didn\u2019t he reply?\u201d<\/em> One high school girl read even more negative meaning into a lack of response from a romantic partner: \u201cOn Facebook it says \u201cseen\u201d too, so it\u2019s like \u2018are you avoiding me?\u2019\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n One high school girl elaborates by saying that ignoring someone digitally is a delicate art:<\/p>\n\n \u201cWell, you kind of learn if you\u2019re going to ignore someone, like, just don’t … you can go on, like, social media, but don’t do things. Don’t like someone’s Instagram photo, cause sometimes people get like really … obsessive. They go through and see like who’s liked what. They’ll screenshot it. It’s like you liked something, and they’ll send it to you. Then you’re like, OK, I’m caught.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n Another girl continued:<\/p>\n\n \u201cI’ll apologize and stuff. But if I just stop talking to them, and they like catch me doing something, I’m like, \u2018You’re boring. Leave me alone. The conversation wasn’t going anywhere.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n In an age of constant connectivity<\/a> through mobile phones (and teens\u2019 reluctance to be parted from their mobile devices<\/a>), complications arise when responses to texts or calls or posts aren\u2019t immediate. The expectations for communicating with a romantic partner are about frequency, but also about timing and content. As one high school boy explained, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to expect a good morning text. You\u2019ve got a whole paragraph in the morning text.\u201d <\/em> And another high school boy detailed what kinds of questions his girlfriend expected him to ask. \u201cAnd you\u2019ve got to text her periodically to ask her what she\u2019s doing, how is her day, stuff like that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n And when expectations aren\u2019t met, relationships can end. As one high school boy explained:<\/p>\n\n \u201cYeah. Like a lot of times, people expect to be texted a lot and then … they don’t necessarily have to … a lot of relationships, like, break up because they don’t talk enough. But it also depends on the relationship and the trust level between them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n In a darker twist on differing expectations around communication between partners, about one-in-five (21%) teens in a serious relationship say their partner tries to pressure them into responding to their phone calls, texts, emails or IMs \u201calways\u201d or \u201csometimes.\u201d The largest portion (18%) of these teens say they feel this way \u201csometimes;\u201d just 3% say they feel this pressure to respond \u201calways.\u201d About a third of teens (32%) say they feel pressured to respond by their partner \u201crarely\u201d and about half (47%) say they never experience this pressure.<\/p>\n\n Some 27% of teens with dating experience have used social media to keep track of where their significant other is or what they happen to be doing. Girls are a bit more likely than boys to engage in this behavior (33% of girls do so, compared with 22% of boys), while older and younger teens, and those from higher- and lower-income households are equally likely to do so.<\/p>\n\n Even as cellphones, social media, and other digital tools can be used to build closeness and connection in the context of romantic relationships, these same tools can also lead to friction and hurt feelings between partners.[9. numoffset=”9″ For adult data on a similar topic, please see the Pew Research Center\u2019s report \u2018Couples, the Internet and Social Media.\u201d https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2014\/02\/11\/couples-the-internet-and-social-media\/<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n The survey asked about several different ways in which technology might cause both positive and negative consequences in the context of romantic relationships. In terms of positive outcomes, among teens with dating experience:<\/p>\n\n Teen daters of various demographic stripes\u2014boys and girls, older and younger teens, those with lower and higher household incomes\u2014are equally likely to say each of these situations has happened to them.<\/p>\n\n Along with these positive outcomes, teens also report negative outcomes resulting from technology use in the context of romantic relationships:<\/p>\n\nOlder teens spend time with their significant others in a wider range of venues than younger teens<\/h4>\n\n
Girls and boys tend to communicate in similar ways in relationships, although girls are somewhat more intense users of text messaging<\/h4>\n\n
Teens from lower-income households communicate more frequently with their romantic partners using social media, as well as instant\/online messaging<\/h4>\n\n
Teens Share a Wide Variety of Content Online With Their Significant Others; Humorous Material and \u2018What I\u2019m Up to Now\u2019 Posts Are Among the Most Popular<\/h3>\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\nBoys and girls share similar content online with partners; older teens share slightly different types of content than do younger teens<\/h4>\n\n
Teens who have ever met a partner online share a much wider range of content than those who have not made a romantic connection online<\/h4>\n\n
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85% of Teens Expect to Hear From Their Significant Other at Least Once a Day, and 11% Expect to Hear From Them Hourly<\/h3>\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\nTeens find managing communication on multiple platforms and their partner\u2019s expectations for a quick response a challenge<\/h4>\n\n
About 20% of teens in serious relationships believe their partner tries to pressure them into responding to their calls, texts, emails or IMs<\/h4>\n\n
27% of teens with dating experience have used social media to track their significant others\u2019 whereabouts<\/h4>\n\n
Digital devices and online platforms can be a source of both conflict and closeness in romantic relationships<\/h4>\n\n
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