San Francisco.- Social media use among teens has not fallen much despite growing concerns about its effects on young people's mental health, a Pew Research Institute survey revealed.
But the survey also revealed that nearly one in six teens describe their use of two platforms — YouTube and TikTok — as “almost constant.”
71% of adolescents indicated that they visit YouTube at least once a day; 16% described their use as “almost constant,” according to the survey. A slightly larger group, 17%, indicated that they used TikTok almost constantly. The figures for Snapchat and Instagram were 14% and 8%, respectively.
YouTube remains by far the most popular social media platform among teens, being used by 93%. The figure fell by two percentage points compared to the 2022 study. TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram followed, although all three are at least 30 percentage points behind YouTube. Three of those four platforms saw a decline in usage over the past year, according to the survey. The exception was Snapchat, which rose by one percentage point.
Facebook, whose overall use among teenagers fell from 71% between 2014 and 2015 to 33% in 2023, receives the respect one would expect from a teenager. Only 19% of young people said they check Facebook daily or more frequently. Only 3% described their use as almost constant.
Social networks are facing increasing criticism for their algorithmic techniques to attract and retain young users. Last October, a coalition of 33 states, including New York and California, filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms for contributing to the youth mental health crisis, arguing that the company knowingly and deliberately designed features on Instagram and Facebook to create an addiction to their platforms among minors. Meta rejects the accusations.
The Pew survey, released on Monday, was conducted between September 26 and October 23 among 1,453 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17.
#YouTube #social #network #minors #Pew