One in five kids have their own cell phone by the time they are 8 years
old, according to Nielsen's latest survey, "A Pocket Guide to Social
Media and Kids." And guess what? The kids love using their phones to
socialize.

Among the 10-year-olds surveyed, 50% have their own cellphone, and that jumps to over three-quarters by the time they are 12. The average age that kids get their own cellphone has also pushed downwards--it was 9.7 years in 2009, and 10.1 years in the second quarter of 2008, but there's obviously a yearning to own them much before this age as the average age of borrowing one is now 8 years old--but I think Nielsen should re-check those numbers, because my toddler wants to borrow my iPhone all the time.

To a generation of parents who were raised on brick phones, these figures may seem surprising. They really shouldn't be though--the mobile phone is such a fantastically useful tool that it is bound to be used by everyone, no matter what their age. In fact, you can argue it's changing how our society works.

But what on earth are kids using these de