A recent report from the Pew Research Center reveals that nearly half of American teenagers now claim to be online “constantly.” This statistic emerges amid growing concerns regarding the impact of social media and smartphones on young people’s mental well-being.
YouTube remains the top choice for teenagers, with 90% of respondents indicating they watch videos on the platform—though this figure is a slight decline from 95% in 2022. Almost three-quarters of these teens engage with YouTube daily, underscoring its enduring popularity.
In contrast, there has been a noticeable decline in usage of several other popular apps. For example, TikTok’s usage among teens decreased to 63% from 67%, while Snapchat dropped to 55%, down from 59%. These minimal decreases may reflect a shift towards more face-to-face interactions as pandemic restrictions ease, yet they are not substantial enough to be of great concern.
X—formerly known as Twitter—experienced the most significant reduction in teenage users, falling from 23% in 2022 to just 17% this year. Reddit maintained a stable 14%, while only 6% of teenagers reported using Threads, Meta’s new platform that debuted in 2023 as a rival to X.
Interestingly, WhatsApp, Meta’s messaging service, saw an increase in teenage users, rising to 23% from 17% last year, marking it as a rare exception in the overall trend.
Furthermore, the survey highlighted that a small but notable segment of teens reported using various online platforms “almost constantly.” Specifically, 15% of teens indicated constant use of YouTube, 16% for TikTok, and 13% for Snapchat.
The survey also revealed gender differences in platform usage: girls were more inclined to use TikTok almost constantly, while boys tended to favor YouTube. No significant gender disparities were observed in the usage of Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook.
Additionally, approximately 25% of Black and Hispanic teenagers reported visiting TikTok almost constantly, in contrast to just 8% of their white counterparts. This difference underscores varying usage patterns across racial and ethnic groups.
The findings presented in this report are based on a survey conducted from September 18 to October 10, 2024, involving 1,391 U.S. teens aged 13 to 17.
