• The New York Times, Wednesday, December 22, 2010 1:16 PM

Over the past last year, time spent using e-mail sites like Yahoo and Hotmail has fallen 48% among 12- to 17-year-olds, reports The New York Times, citing data from comScore. While the stats only include time spent with e-mail on computers -- and not mobile -- "The drop for that age group is far sharper than for others," The Times notes. By contrast, comScore found a decline of just 10% in time spent on Web-based email among 18- to 24-year-olds. (Oddly, comScore also found a 15% increase in time spend on e-mail among those 55 to 64, 17% among consumers 65 and older.

Guess these older generations are just now getting online, or finally figuring out how to use their computers. As for teens, comScore analyst Andrew Lipsman tells The Times that they'll likely need to email more often by the time they enter the workforce -- suggesting, as The Times puts it, that "the shift isn't just generational but situational." What's more, "Teenagers may have more time and fewer responsibilities, so that instant communication doesn't represent a disruption to people in most cases," said Lipsman.

Read the whole story at The New York Times »