The latest Pew Internet study on smartphone highlights the strong generational differences in how we access and use the internet in America. Only 19% of the respondents over 50 had smartphone compared to 52% of those between 18 and 29. Of those smartphone owners, 99% of those between 18 and 29 had sent or received txt messages, but only 78% of those over 50 had participated in txt communication (I’m presuming that those who did were communicating with people 18 – 29 ;->). The difference in accessing social networking sites was even greater with 76% of the younger group being social on their phones compared to 32% of those over 50 years of age. The groups were closer when it came to email access on their smart phones 82% to 62%.

What to make of these numbers? First that owning smartphones, using them for txting and mobile social networking are normative for the millennial generation. For the Boomers and beyond, owning a smartphone is far from normative and mobile social networking is quite rare.

My claim in the #noemail project is that communications were becoming more mobile, more social, valuing the fast more integrated and brief — and will include location awareness. The Millennials are not only leading the way but have made those behaviors a normal part of their everyday lives.

Pew Internet 2011 Smartphone Ownership and Use