The X/Y factor

"I definitely think [technology] is a divider," she says, "and it's something that will continue to be a divider. If you don't text message, if you don't twitter, it will change your day-to-day reactions. I don't think [technology] is horrific and negative. At some point, technology will become so integrated into our lifestyles, we won't notice it, but right now we feel its presence a lot."

When recently discussing the trends for the upcoming year, Buckingham mentions the true coming of age of mobile entertainment, with the rise of gadgets like Kindle, Amazon's new electronic reader, and video and social networking sites operating on cellphones.

She sees a further blurring of Internet and real life. "People are willing to do anything and take anything from the Web," she says. On one hand, there's going to be a rise in more professional services online and such sites as AshleyMadison.com for people wanting to have affairs. At the same time, other companies, like Nau, are setting up storefronts for websites where people can try on merchandise but cannot buy it -- they have to go online for that. There also will be new applications of existing technology, like a new Google application that lets Gmail users check all their friends' schedules at once. "If everybody wants to go to a concert, you can check their appointment books all at once. Privacy is going to change."

Not that young and younger folk care.

Notes Buckingham wryly, "You're willing to give up privacy if it makes your life as 16-year-old easier for social planning."

Shooting for the hip

Buckingham is considered one of the go-to people in her field. She published her first book, "Teens Speak Out: A Report From Today's Teens," while a senior in high school in New York. In 2003, Creative Artists Agency bought her 15-year-old, 17-person shop. She estimates she has about 100 blue-chip clients; corporations like Fox, Sony, Electronic Arts, Lancome and T-Mobile shell out $35,000 annually to receive her triannual Cassandra Report, which features an exhaustive compendium of studies about the demographic. An additional 50 clients also buy the Tween Report, the Mom Report or the Latino Report at $25,000 a pop.