Teens are more online than ever, but platform preferences differ: report

Surprise, surprise: Teens are online more than ever, according to the Pew Research Center’s annual report on teen social media usage, released this week.

The study, which surveyed 1,453 US teens (ages 13 to 17) in September and October, found that TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram reigned as the most-used apps among the respondents, with 63%, 60%, and 59% saying they use each app, respectively.

“Despite negative headlines and growing concerns about social media’s impact on youth, teens continue to use these platforms at high rates,” Pew Research stated in a press release.

Not doing so hot: In contrast to platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, Facebook does not seem to be especially popular among US teens: Only a third of those surveyed said they use the platform, versus 71% in 2014–2015. X also saw a decline. BeReal didn’t notch many teen users either, with only 13% reporting that they use the app.

Who’s who: Social media usage broke down differently by gender. Two-thirds of teen girls surveyed said they were Instagram users, while 53% of teen boys did. TikTok and Snapchat were both slightly more popular among teen girls than teen boys. Teen boys, on the other hand, were more likely to use Discord and Twitch; 34% of teen boys reported using Discord, compared to 22% of teen girls.

The lowdown: Black teens were most likely to report using TikTok, with eight in 10 saying they use the platform, compared to 70% of Hispanic teens and 57% of white teens who said the same. Hispanic teens were more likely to report using WhatsApp than white and Black teens. On BeReal, more white teens reported using the platform than Black and Hispanic teens.

One year later: Year over year, some social platforms remain enduringly popular: Snapchat, for instance, had the same percentage of teens (59%) reporting usage in 2022 as they did this year. Tumblr, meanwhile, continues to struggle with teens: In 2014–2015, 14% of teen users reported being on Tumblr, compared to 5% in 2022. This year, in what is perhaps a sign of the site’s waning influence, Pew Research didn’t ask teens whether they were using Tumblr at all.