What parents say about their teen’s uses of social media

About this research

This study is Pew Research Center’s latest effort to explore the landscape of teens and technology today. It focuses on social media and how the views and experiences of teens vary across sites. This study focuses on three widely used sites by teens: TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. And it unpacks their parents’ views, too.

Why did we do this?

The Center conducts research to inform the public, journalists and decision-makers. Tracking the use of social media and understanding the experiences of teens and their parents today have been key priorities for us over the years. This study brings those two areas together.

Teens are often at the forefront of technology use, and social media sites are no different: Our December report showed that most teens use social media. It’s important to understand how social media play a role in teens’ daily lives – as well as how their parents feel about it.

Learn more about Pew Research Center.

How did we do this?

We surveyed 1,458 U.S. teens and their parents online from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9, 2025. Our data collection partner Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel.

Findings about teens’ views and experiences represent the views of all U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with their parents.

Findings about parents’ views and experiences represent the views of all U.S. parents of teens ages 13 to 17.

For both teens and parents, the overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. For the margin of errors of subgroups, refer to the methodology.

This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra. An IRB is an independent committee of experts that helps to protect the rights of research participants.

Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and the survey methodology.

Warnings about the potential harms of social media for youth are everywhere – some even targeting specific apps.

To see if parents’ outlook shift by platform, we surveyed 1,458 U.S. parents of teens ages 13 to 17.

We asked parents about how they think social media generally impact their teen. And for the first time, we followed up with their views on three widely used platforms: TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. Here are our key questions:

What is social media’s impact on your teen’s well-being?
How much time does your teen spend on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat?
Are you OK with your teen using these three platforms?
Do you ever talk with your teen about using social media?

This is part of a larger study about teens and social media. For teens’ own experiences and views on these three platforms, check out the main report.

Opposing bar chart showing that More parents say social media sites hurt rather than help their teen’s sleep, productivity and mental health

In general, parents lean more negative than positive when it comes to social media’s impact on their teen’s lives.

Sleep and productivity: Roughly four-in-ten parents say social media hurt the amount of sleep their teens get and their productivity. Relatively few think it helps in these areas.

Mental health: Parents are also more likely to think social media hurt rather than help their teen’s mental health (24% vs. 8%).

Friendships: By contrast, parents are more positive about the role these platforms play in teen friendship. About one-in-five say social media help their teen’s friendships, compared with 13% who say it hurts.

Still, it’s worth noting that about a quarter or more don’t think they have much impact on their teen in these ways.

Parents weigh in on time spent on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat

Do parents and teens see screen time the same way?

To find out, we asked parents about the amount of time their teens spend on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. And we asked teens about their own screen time.

A bar chart showing that Parents are more likely to say their teen spends too much time on social media sites than teens say about themselves

Parents are more likely to label their teen’s screen time as “too much” than teens themselves.

Among parents whose teen uses TikTok, 44% think their teen spends too much time on the app, compared with 28% of teens who say the same.

The share of parents who say the same of Snapchat and Instagram is lower. But the same pattern continues for both, with parents being more likely than teens to describe their teens’ use of these sites as excessive.

Few parents say the time their teen spends on any of the sites is too little. And about four-in-ten or more across each say the amount of screen time is about right.

Parents’ comfort with their teen using TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat

A bar chart showing that About 3 in 10 parents whose teen uses TikTok say they’re uncomfortable with it, similar to Snapchat

Additionally, we asked parents about their comfort level with their teen using these sites.

Parents are most comfortable with their teen using Instagram. About six-in-ten parents whose teen uses Instagram say so. Still, roughly half say the same of TikTok and Snapchat.

Additionally, among those whose teen uses TikTok, about three-in-ten say they’re uncomfortable with their teen being on the site. And a similar share say this of Snapchat. This figure drops for Instagram (16%).

Opposing bar chart showing that Parents whose teen doesn’t use TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram would largely be uncomfortable if they did

Parents whose teen doesn’t use each platform are most uncomfortable with TikTok. Among parents who say their teen doesn’t use each platform or doesn’t know if they do:

73% say they’d be uncomfortable with their teen using TikTok.
A smaller share says this of Snapchat, and fewer say the same of Instagram.

A bar chart showing that Vast majority of parents talk to their teen about social media use

Social media are no longer the new technologies on the block. And parents have long expressed concerns about how social media may impact their teens.

In fact, most parents (85%) say they talk with their teen about using social media. Far fewer say they don’t have these conversations.

And this is common practice for parents regardless of gender, race and ethnicity, or household income.

Parents’ views by household income

In some ways, parents’ views of their teen using social media differ by household income. Higher-income parents are more likely to say their teen spends too much time on TikTok. Among parents of a TikTok user, about half of parents living in households earning $75,000 or more a year say their teen spends too much time on the app. This drops to 36% among those in households earning less than $75,000 annually.

Bar charts showing that Parents in high-income households more likely to say their teen TikTok and Snapchat user is on it too much

We see a similar pattern when it comes to parents’ views about Snapchat. Those in the highest earning households are more likely to describe their teen’s use of it as excessive.

There are no statistically significant differences by income for parents who say this of Instagram.

Go to: What parents say about their teen’s AI use to read about how parents experiences also vary by household income.

A bar chart showing Higher-income parents are more likely to say social media sites hurt their teen’s productivity

There are also differences in how parents view its impact on their teen’s productivity. Parents in households earning $75,000 or more annually are more likely than those earning less to say social media negatively impact their teen’s productivity (41% vs. 29%).

A similar pattern emerges when it comes to mental health and friendships. But there are no income differences for sleep.