India, March 21 -- US teens started spending more time with their friends as smartphone usage surged
Ask a teen today how she communicates with her friends, and she'll probably hold up her smartphone. Not that she actually calls her friends; it's more likely that she texts them or messages them on social media.
Today's teens - the generation I call " iGen " that's also called Gen Z - are constantly connected with their friends via digital media, spending as much as nine hours a day on average with screens.
How might this influence the time they spend with their friends in person?
Some studies have found that people who spend more time on social media actually have more face time with friends .
But studies like this are only looking at ...