New research shows that most teens use the Internet to interact with people they already know rather than strangers who might turn out to be predators.

The 2008 study by University of California researchers asked 251 teens about their face-to-face friends and those they communicate with via social networking and instant messaging. Both in-person questionnaires and online surveys were conducted among students in grades 9-12. They included asking them to list the top 10 people they interact with face-to-face, through social networking sites and through instant messages.

For 44 percent, using social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook had no effect on their relationship with their friends; 43 percent said it made them closer.

A subset of children, 126, also answered online surveys. Of those, only five percent said they had friends known only from the Internet.

Most teens in the study said they weren't looking to meet people but rather used the Internet to stay in touch with existing friends and make plans, says Stephanie Reich, assistant professor of education at the University of California-Irvine.

"It's possible to have face-to-face friends and go online and talk to people who you don't hang out with in school," she says. "It's a chance to have relationships in a different way."