New York
CNN
—
It would possible come as little shock to many mother and father that a big proportion of American teenagers say their use of sure social media sites is “nearly fixed,” in response to a brand new Pew Analysis Middle report on youth social media and web use.
However it could be stunning the place they’re spending that point.
YouTube for the second yr in a row beat out TikTok as probably the most extensively used platform among the many practically 1,500 teenagers surveyed for the report. Within the survey, 93% of the kids mentioned they used YouTube, in comparison with 63% who mentioned they used TikTok, adopted by smaller shares for Snapchat (60%), Instagram (59%) and Fb (33%), respectively.
One third of the teenager respondents mentioned they used a minimum of a type of apps “nearly consistently,” Pew reported. And the share of teenagers reporting that they use the web nearly consistently has practically doubled to 46% within the eight years since Pew first launched the survey in 2015.
To conduct the report, Pew Analysis surveyed 1,453 US teenagers ages 13 to 17, recruited by means of their mother and father, between September 26 and October 23, 2023.
Pew’s report signifies that regardless of rising concerns about the impact of social media on teen psychological well being and security, younger folks proceed to closely have interaction with these platforms.
The report comes on the heels of numerous lawsuits filed against social media companies accusing them of harming younger folks, together with one filed just this week by New Mexico’s lawyer normal alleging that Fb- and Instagram-parent Meta creates a “breeding floor” for youngster predators. Meta denied the claims within the lawsuit and mentioned it has insurance policies and practices in place to guard younger customers.
The group discovered that whereas use of Snapchat and Instagram has grown since its 2015 report, use of Fb and X (previously Twitter) has declined; simply 33% of teenagers mentioned they used Fb this yr, in comparison with 71% in 2015. Twitter use fell from 33% in 2015 to simply 20% this yr.
Older teenagers, ages 15 to 17, are extra possible to make use of a lot of the main platforms than these ages 13 to 14, besides YouTube. Amongst 13- to 14-year-olds, 94% reported utilizing YouTube, in comparison with 92% of teenagers ages 15 to 17.
Teen women are extra possible than boys to make use of Instagram (66% vs. 53%), TikTok (68% vs. 59%) and Snapchat (66% vs. 53%), whereas boys are extra possible to make use of YouTube (96% vs. 91%), X (21% vs. 19%) and Reddit (18% vs. 10%).
On-line security specialists have beforehand raised concerns in regards to the influence of Instagram — and the way in which it promotes so-called social comparability between customers and celebrities, in addition to their friends — on younger women. Meta has since launched varied feature updates meant to make it more durable for customers, notably teenagers, to fall down content material rabbit holes that would hurt their psychological well being, together with “take a break” reminders.
TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat have all additionally launched options designed to guard younger customers in recent times in response to rising scrutiny over their security for teenagers, akin to default display screen closing dates, parental oversight choices and up to date content material advice methods.
The report additionally provides a stark reminder of a disparity that may make it more durable for teenagers not solely to entry social media, however to entry schoolwork and full homework: 10% of the teenager respondents mentioned they didn’t have entry to a desktop or laptop computer laptop at residence.