Teens and Social Media Fact Sheet
YouTube is the most popular online platform among teens, with roughly nine-in-ten saying they use the site. And more than half of teens report using TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
YouTube is the most popular online platform among teens, with roughly nine-in-ten saying they use the site. And more than half of teens report using TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram remain the most widely used online platforms among U.S. teens. And teens are less likely to be using Facebook and Twitter (recently renamed X) than they were a decade ago.
More than half of U.S. teens say it would be difficult for them to give up social media. 36% say they spend too much time on social media.
U.S. adults and teens are more likely to support than oppose requiring parental consent for minors to create a social media account.
The landscape of social media is ever-changing, especially among teens who often are on the leading edge of this space. A new survey of American teenagers ages 13 to 17 finds that TikTok has established itself as one of the top online platforms for U.S. teens, while the share of teens who use Facebook has fallen sharply.
Today, nearly all U.S. teens (96%) say they use the internet every day. And the share of teens who report being online “almost constantly” has roughly doubled since 2014-2015 (24% vs. 46%).
Most teens at least sometimes feel happy and peaceful when they don’t have their phone, but 44% say this makes them anxious. Half of parents say they have looked through their teen’s phone.
Majorities of teens credit social media with strengthening their friendships and providing support while also noting the emotionally charged side of these platforms.
A majority of U.S. parents are keeping a watchful eye on what their teens do on social media; some are also imposing screen time restrictions.
Nearly half of U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online, with physical appearance being seen as a relatively common reason why. Older teen girls are especially likely to report being targeted by online abuse overall and because of their appearance.
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