With headlines constantly touting the adoption of social networking, blogging, and text messaging among US teenagers, it comes as no surprise that Internet use among that demographic is statistically still on the rise. Teens are blogging, using social networks, posting photos, and sharing videos in record numbers. Examining the details in a new Teens and Social Media report (PDF) from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, however, reveals that with all this online socializing, teens are actually more conscious than ever of how and with whom they share their content.

In summary, 93 percent of US teens use the Internet now in some way. Many of the general numbers are up from Pew's 2004 study: 39 percent of these teens share their own artistic creations like artwork, photos, stories, or videos (up from 33 percent in 2004), 28 percent have created their own online journal or blog (up from 19 percent), and 26 percent remix content they find online for their own creations (also up from 19 percent). Altogether, that makes up for 64 percent of online teens, or 59 percent of all teens that are creating something on the web.

Contributing the most to these numbers are significant increases in blogging and video sharing. Though numbers all around are up, girls dominate the teen blogging boom with 35 of online teen girls blogging versus 20 percent of boys. Conversely, video sharing at sites like YouTube and Facebook is dominated nearly two to one by boys, with 19 percent of online teen boys posting videos and only 10 percent of online teen girls doing the same. Pew's numbers also note that teen girls far outrank boys in sharing pictures, though comparative numbers are not available.

As the growth of social sites and sharing tools exploded over the last half a decade, so too did a growing concern among parents and government officials over their potential dangers, even if studies show this concern to be overblown. For some time now, educational campaigns directed at this demographic have more or less warned that sharing too much on the Web is like shouting your personal details out to the entire school body and the rest of the world. While there is likely still a lot more work to do to raise teens' consciousness of what and how much to share, Pew's numbers reveal that notable progress is being made. About two-thirds (66 percent) of teens with some kind of online profile use the site's privacy features to restrict access in some way. Over half post false information, with just 11 percent sharing both a first and last name, and only 5 percent sharing a full name, photo, city, or state.

The numbers are also strong when restricting access to photos, but not nearly as much for videos. While 39 percent of teens say they restrict access to photos "most of the time," only 19 percent restrict their videos with the same frequency. Teen girls, especially older ones aged 15-17, are more likely to restrict access to their photos: 44 percent versus 33 percent of boys.

Pew's study offers far more details as to which teens are doing what on (and off) the Web, but their increased awareness in an age where anything can be shared almost anywhere should offer some relief to those watching the industry.