A new study by Alloy Media and Marketing and Harris Interactive examines what friendship means to today's teens and 'tweens, in an era where online interaction and social networking are a part of their lives. The study showed that teens today, in some cases, connect more intimately online than offline, that they're "more at ease" through virtual communication, and "more likely to reveal their true selves and to share more personal information with friends online than face-to-face."
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According to Suzanne Martin, Ph.D., research manager for youth and education research at Harris Interactive, "The Internet plays an increasingly important role in kids' friendships. Social networking websites aid in youth development by providing an arena to build meaningful relationships, establish independence, strengthen their identity and become connected to a community that is not limited to their physical community."

Kids aged 8 through 12 prefer to spend time with their parents than their friends, according to the study (58 versus 31 percent), but the preference, as might be expected, appears to reverse dramatically by the teen years, with 56 percent of teens preferring their friends to the 22 percent who prefer to be with Mom and Dad.

Teens are also much bigger IM users than 'tweens are (74 versus 26 percent); when it comes to text messaging, it's regularly used by 37 percent of teens versus 9 percent of 'tweens. While young people still prefer face-to-face contact over all -- 53 percent of teens responded this way -- when you look at the fact that 81 percent of 'tweens prefer person-to-person contact, it still sends a message that kids go steadily digital for their social lives as they grow into their teens.

Interestingly, young people reported having more friends when the word "friend" was put into the context of an online profile or IM buddy list -- which means that young people have more friends online than in their face-to-face lives, but it also indicates kids draw a distinction between "Facebook friends" and "real friends." 36 percent of teens -- more than one third -- reported having a "friend" they'd never met in person.

Samantha Skey, SVP, of strategic marketing for Alloy Marketing and Media, commented, "Today’s teens look to their friends above any other influence for guidance and approval. The extensive accessibility to ‘friends’ in the current media environment and the evolving definition of ‘friend’ affords peer networks greater import than ever. The shift extends to brands endeavoring to reach this influential audience as advertisers look to use the power of youth connectivity—and the evolving definition of ‘friend’—to enable online propagation of their messages."