Old Farts Big On Web, Kids Dumb
If you think it's the kids running rampant on the Internet, think again.

A new study by the Nielsen Norman Group that challenges Internet stereotypes of teen technowizards. When using Web sites, teenagers have a lower success rate than adults and they're also easily bored," the study concluded. "To work for teens, Web sites must be simple, but not childish, and supply plenty of interactive features." The Nielsen study asked 38 teens between the ages of 13 and 17 to perform tasks on 23 specific Web sites. The study measured a success rate of 55 percent for teenage users, lower than the 66 percent rate found for adult users. Boredom is the kiss of death in terms of keeping teens on your site," according to the study. "That's the one stereotype our study confirmed: Teens have a short attention span and want to be stimulated. That's also why they leave sites that are difficult to figure out."