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The present study explores the usage and attitude toward Facebook and text messaging among African American and Hispanic teenagers. It also examines the influence of personality and gender on the new communication technologies. The study further investigates the status of parental monitoring and control. Finally, it examines the possible effect of the new communication tools on the teens' academic performance. A total of 314 middle and high school students participated in the survey. Nearly 91% had Facebook account and 84% of the students owned cell phone. Fewer Hispanic students own cell phones compared with African American students. There was significant relationship between Facebook use and anxiety, while cell phone owners perceived themselves as more outgoing, cheerful, and sensitive. A significant proportion of teenagers indicated that their cell phone was inextricably wrapped with their identity and even their sense of self-worth. Results from the survey suggested a statistically significant, negative relationship between Facebook activity and math grades of the respondents. Implications for future research on the potential effects of excessive use of Facebook and cell phones on the academic performance are discussed.

This article examines the extent and intensity of Facebook usage among African American college students and investigates their reasons for using Facebook. As expected, 98% of students in the survey had a Facebook account, and a large number of Facebook “friends.” Younger users spent significantly more time on Facebook than older ones. Our findings underscore the importance of cultural influence for African American online users. Displaying photographs and personal interests on Facebook signals racial identity among African American college students. Personality traits, such as self-esteem, trust in people, satisfaction with university life, and racial identity, were not significant predictors on the time spent on Facebook.

This article quantifies the heavy use of smartphone and Facebook among African American college students. It examines the major predictors of smartphone and Facebook overuse, including demographic and personality traits. It further explores the effect of heavy utilization of smartphone and Facebook on the academic performance of African American college students. Younger and female users spent significantly more time on their smartphones. However, excessive Facebook use was not related to gender of our participants. In terms of the prevalence rate, about 11% of the sample showed a high level of smartphone addiction and 10% scored a high level of Facebook addiction. Among personality and psychological traits, social interaction anxiety was the most important predictor of heavy utilization of smartphone and Facebook, not extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, or conscientiousness. As expected, multitasking was significantly and positively correlated with excessive smartphone and Facebook use. Surprisingly, multitasking behavior and frequent checking of smartphones did not harm academic performance. Possible reasons for the absence of negative effects on grade point average (GPA) are discussed.