Happiness defined

According to Charlie Brown it's a warm puppy, but according to a recent report from MTV and the Associate Press, 50% of Americans 18 to 34 see happiness in the form of the Internet and their cell phones.

But have no fear! Most young people also see spending time with family and friends as a major source of happiness -- the number one source, in fact.
One wonders, though, whether they count time spent with friends online or on their cell phone as "friend time" or "Internet time." Or what about all those semi-friends one has on MySpace? Which category does that fall in to?

Perhaps the good news here is that when one is "plugged in" one can earn double fun points when one connects with friends and family through technology.

At the same time, these folks are stressed out about a few things. You'd think it would be "too much SPAM on the internet" or "not enough texting capacity on my cell phone." In fact, the number one source of stress, now as it always has been, is money (not having enough, that is. Few people reported stress about too much cash).

Overall, though, it seems that the younger set is a jolly lot -- a much different picture than we sometimes get of the "self-centered, morose" millenial generation.

If you're interested in a closer look you can read more about this study here and here