By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer
Nearly half of American teenagers say they’re online “constantly,” despite concerns in regards to the impact of social media and smartphones on their mental health, in keeping with a brand new report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.
As in previous years, YouTube was probably the most used platform by teens – 90% said they’d watched videos on the positioning, down barely from 95% in 2022. Nearly three-quarters said they watched YouTube every Visit day.
Several popular apps utilized by teens saw a slight downward trend. For example, 63% of teens said they used TikTok, down from 67%, and Snapchat dropped from 59% to 55%. This small decline might be on account of restrictions being eased through the pandemic and youngsters having more time to see friends in person, but it surely isn’t enough to be truly meaningful.
X saw the largest decline in teen users. Only 17% of teens said they use X, in comparison with 23% in 2022, the 12 months Elon Musk bought the platform. Reddit remained regular at 14%. About 6% of teens said they use Threads, Meta's answer to X, which launched in 2023.
The report comes as countries all over the world grapple with methods to address the impact of social media on young people's well-being. Australia recently passed a law Prohibit children under 16 years old from social networks, even though it is unclear how the age limit might be enforced – and whether this can have unintended consequences, akin to: B. isolating at-risk children from their peers.
Pew also asked children how often they use various online platforms. Small but significant numbers said they attended “almost constantly.” On YouTube, 15% reported constant use, on TikTok 16% and on Snapchat 13%.
As in previous surveys, girls were more more likely to use TikTok almost always, while boys were more more likely to be drawn to YouTube. There was no significant gender difference in the usage of Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook.
About 1 / 4 of Black and Hispanic teens said they visit TikTok almost always, in comparison with just 8% of white teens.
The report was based on a survey of 1,391 U.S. teenagers ages 13 to 17 conducted from September 18 to October 10, 2024.
Originally published:
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