Our sense from talking with these teens is that the Internet expands their network of friends. They keep in touch with people they normally would not because instant messaging can be a more casual way of talking with someone you met at summer camp or someone you have not seen in awhile.

Twenty-four percent, or 35 million, have participated in an online auction, either buying or selling. People are comfortable [with these sites].

Text messaging is popular for two reasons: It's mobile, and it's quiet,

Clearly, most parents feel a bit overwhelmed.

Teens feel more comfortable online because it is not a physical world to them. While they may be exposed to advances or images they don't like, they don't feel that they will be physically harmed because they know how to block offensive users in chat and they believe it would be hard for predators to track them down.

There were definitely some teenagers who told me they'd been asked to rewrite papers,