In may not be news that teens are the pre-eminent users of new media and technology.

However, the latest numbers from BBM Canada’s bi-annual consumer-media survey still surprise: they show that practically all teens are now on the Net and over one-third have a cellphone.

The growth in cellphone use is particularly impressive when you realize that just five years ago, almost no teens were using them.

In 1998, only 8% of Toronto teens had a cellphone (Return to Sample data was not available Canada-wide until 2001). By 2001, national teen cell usage reached 29%, and the proportion was 34% by the fall of 2003.

Canadian teens have also embraced new media in much greater numbers than adults 18 and over.

In the fall of 1998, half the teenagers (49%) in Toronto had accessed the Internet in the past week, in contrast to only 36% of adults. This year, that proportion has grown to the vast majority (84%) of Canadian teens accessing the Internet in the past week, versus two thirds (68%) of adults.

Something else. There is evidence that what teens do online is different from adults.

Teens are much more likely than anyone else to engage in online communication activities, such as Internet chat groups. In fact, teens make up the largest proportion of those using Internet chats, with 56% of teens using them, in sharp contrast to only 16% of adults.

Advertisers need to sit up and take notice of these trends: While radio and TV are still the top two media among teens in terms of yesterday exposure, the Internet is now number three – far ahead of magazines and daily or community papers.

The preceding information is from BBM RTS, a syndicated consumer-media survey of over 55,000 Canadians, conducted twice a year by BBM Canada. For more information please contact Craig Dorning of BBM Canada at: cdorning@bbm.ca