---
title: "How having smartphones (or not) shapes the way teens communicate"
description: "It may seem as if basic or flip phones are a thing of the past, given that 73% of teens have a smartphone. But that still leaves 15% of teens who only have a basic cellphone and 12% who have none at all, and it makes a difference in the way each group communicates."
date: "2015-08-20"
authors:
  - name: "Monica Anderson"
    job_title: "Director, Internet and Technology Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/monica-anderson/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/08/20/how-having-smartphones-or-not-shapes-the-way-teens-communicate/"
categories:
  - "Age & Generations"
  - "Mobile"
  - "Smartphones"
  - "Social Media"
  - "Teens & Tech"
  - "Teens & Youth"
  - "Texting"
---

# How having smartphones (or not) shapes the way teens communicate

It may seem as if basic or flip phones are a thing of the past, given that 73% of teens have a smartphone. But that still leaves 15% of teens who only have a basic cellphone and 12% who have none at all, and it makes a difference in the way each group communicates, according to a recent [Pew Research Center study](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/).

[![Teens With and Without Smartphones](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/08/FT_08.20.15_teensSmartphones_chart1.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/08/20/how-having-smartphones-or-not-shapes-the-way-teens-communicate/ft_08-20-15_teenssmartphones_chart1/)

Texting is an especially popular way for smartphone-using teens to communicate with their closest friends, while teens without a smartphone are more likely than their smartphone-using counterparts to use social media and phone calls as their preferred ways for connecting with their best pals.

Teens who have a close friend were asked to name their most common method of getting in touch with their closest friend. Texting [is the number one way](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/08/06/chapter-2-how-teens-hang-out-and-stay-in-touch-with-their-closest-friends/) *all* teens get in touch with their closest friends. Some 58% of teens with smartphones cite texting as the main way they communicate with their closest friend online or by phone, compared with 25% of teens without smartphone access.

On the other hand, non-smartphone-using teens are more likely than those with smartphones to keep in touch with their closest friend via social media. Some 29% of teens without smartphone access cited social media as their most common online or phone method of communicating with a best friend, compared with 17% for smartphone users who did so.

For the 12% of teens who don’t have access to any type of cellphone, social media is by far their most used method for communicating with a close friend—37% of this group say they connect with close friends there. (Teens were not asked *how *they access social media, but there are several non-phone based ways to do so, i.e. computer, laptop, game console.)

Talking on the phone is also more common among the non-smartphone group, with 21% of these teens saying they make phone calls to their closest friend as a primary mode of keeping in touch, double the share for smartphone users.

[![Smartphone-Using Teens More Likely to Contact a Close Friend, Make a Friend Online and Fight With a Friend Over an Online Incident](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/08/FT_08.20.15_teensSmartphones_chart2.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/08/20/how-having-smartphones-or-not-shapes-the-way-teens-communicate/ft_08-20-15_teenssmartphones_chart2/)

Outside of the different communication channels that teens use to interact, having a smartphone helps teens more frequently stay in contact with their close friends and forge new relationships online.

Smartphone-using teens are more likely to be in daily contact with their closest friend than teens without smartphone access (62% vs. 51%). They are also more likely to have made a friend online: Six-in-ten teens with a smartphone have made at least one friend online, compared with 48% of those who do not use smartphones. There is also a bit more drama associated with smartphone-using teens. They are more likely to say they have argued with a friend about something that first happened online or via text than those who do not have a smartphone (29% vs. 19%).

But having a smartphone, and the constant access to the Web it provides, does not mean that teens are not interacting with their close friends face-to-face. In fact, teen smartphone users are more likely to say they spend time with their closest friend at a number of in-person activities, including at school, at someone’s house or while shopping. Non-smartphone-using teens are more inclined to interact with their best friend at a place of worship, while there is no difference based on extracurricular activities such as sports and clubs, in a neighborhood, at work or online.