Good news for worried parents: All those hours their teenagers spend socializing on the Internet are not a bad thing, according to a new study by the MacArthur Foundation.

"It may look as though kids are wasting a lot of time hanging out with new media, whether it's on MySpace or sending instant messages," said Mizuko Ito, lead researcher on the study, "Living and Learning With New Media."

"But their participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed in the contemporary world. They're learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page."

The study describes new-media usage but does not measure its effects.

"It certainly rings true that new media are inextricably woven into young people's lives," said Vicki Rideout, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, and director of its program for the study of media and health.

"Ethnographic studies like this are good at describing how young people fit social media into their lives. What they can't do is document effects. This highlights the need for larger, nationally representative studies."

Dr. Ito, a research scientist in the department of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, said that some parental concern about the dangers of Internet socializing may result from a misperception.

"Those concerns about predators and stranger danger have been overblown," she said. "There's been some confusion about what kids are actually doing online. Mostly, they're socializing with their friends, people they've met at school or camp or sports."

The study used several teams of researchers to conduct interviews with more than 800 young people and their parents and to observe teenagers online for more than 5,000 hours. Because of the adult sense that socializing on the Internet is a waste of time, the study said, teenagers reported many rules and restrictions on their electronic hanging out – but most found ways to work around such barriers that let them stay in touch with their friends steadily throughout the day.

"Teens usually have a 'full-time intimate community' with whom they communicate in an always-on mode via mobile phones and instant messaging," the study said.

Time span: It began in 2005 and was completed this summer. It includes interviews of 800 youths, ages 8 to 20, and their parents.

Funding: The project was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which has pledged $50 million to explore how digital media are changing how young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life.

Historic comparison: In a telephone interview Wednesday, lead researcher Mizuko Ito said today's kids socialize online in much the same way that their parents once hung out at the mall or their grandparents gathered at the soda fountain.

Parental advice: The study suggests that kids learn quickly from other kids what's acceptable and what's not. It also concludes that the best way for parents to monitor their children's online life is to be part of it.

From wire reports