Don’t be fooled — young folks aren’t trading face time with their friends for online social sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Granted, the hours once spent in front of televisions are being swapped for hours in front of computer monitors and texting friends via cell phone, according to some studies. But kids still hang out.

“Millennials,” as the current batch of 20-somethings and teenagers are known, are tied to their cell phones and often would rather text than talk.

A handful of friends working at St. Joseph’s Aquatic Park said they fit that profile, except for the one more talkative friend in the bunch, Brad Brush.

“I’d rather call somebody because usually I have more than one question to ask,” said Mr. Brush, who regardless of his aversion to texting, said he has a cell phone plan that includes 1,000 free monthly texts.

There is no official gathering area for them, besides work. Youthful, full of energy and with no shortage of friends, they jump to whatever the other is up for, whether it’s a game of disc golf or just watching Red Box or Netflix movies together at home.

But they don’t cruise.

The social equivalent of Facebook 20 years ago could be found at Hillcrest, the Belt Bowl and the King Hill Plaza, where a convoy of young cruisers gathered on weekend nights and made loop after loop around the parking lots. Those loops are being made today on the Internet, it would seem, as Facebook has 70 million users and the throng of cruisers at the former hot spots has subsided.

Brenda Steeby, Kayle Zieber, Ryan Vanbelkum, Jake Bonwell, David Steeby and Mr. Brush, all age 19 or 20, said they get on Facebook at least once a day.

“They still meet in social gatherings, but how they organize it is technologically saavy,” said Dr. Jackie Elliott, vice president for student affairs at Northwest Missouri State University.

Dr. Elliott, who said her office is constantly keeping tabs on what makes millennials tick and how they can fulfill their needs, said students are more active than ever in campus organizations.

“The millennial generation is more community-conscious. They do a lot more volunteering than we did,” said Dr. Elliott, who fits snugly in Generation X. “They’re very cognizant about volunteering and getting involved with the community.”

Jimmy Myers can be reached at jimmym@npgco.com.