In abstract: Many individuals fear that teenagers are spending an excessive amount of time on-line, and the most recent survey from the Pew Analysis Middle appears to justify these issues. Practically half of all teen contributors mentioned they’re on-line nearly consistently, and YouTube stays the preferred platform. The previous Twitter web site X has been quickly dropping younger customers, whereas WhatsApp has been gaining them.
Virtually 1,400 younger individuals between 13 and 17 years previous participated within the survey between September and October. The primary, if not significantly shocking, discovering is that the variety of teenagers who report being on-line nearly consistently continues to rise, from simply over 1 / 4 a decade in the past to just about half right this moment. Just about all of these surveyed, 96%, acknowledged that they use the Web day by day.
As for particular person platforms, YouTube stays the preferred amongst youngsters, despite the fact that its variety of customers decreased from 95% in 2022 to 90%.
TikTok is the second hottest app, and 63% of teenagers say they use it.
It seems that teenage ladies are more likely to make use of TikTok nearly consistently than boys, whereas the roles are reversed on YouTube, which is most well-liked by males.
Regardless of being utilized by 170 million People, TikTok is probably not accessible in america for for much longer. The US Courtroom of Appeals not too long ago dismissed TikTok’s attraction towards a legislation requiring it to be bought to new house owners by January 19 or shut within the US.
Returning to the survey, Instagram sits behind TikTok in third place (61%) having seen its person engagement enhance over final 12 months, whereas Snapchat is available in fourth place at 55%.
In 2014-2015, Fb was highly regarded amongst youngsters: 71% mentioned they used the social community. However Zuckerberg’s platform has lengthy been labeled as an app for “seniors,” prompting an exodus of youngsters. Nonetheless, Fb has managed to take care of its 32% share of teenage customers over the previous two years.
One other meta property, WhatsApp, has seen its recognition enhance amongst youngsters since 2022, rising from 17% to 23%. It was the one app that noticed a rise in customers within the final two years. It seems that massive group chats and messaging providers are beginning to change social media because the apps of selection amongst teenagers.
One other social media app (or information app, because it likes to name itself) that’s dropping teen customers is X. A decade in the past, Twitter, because it nonetheless was then, was utilized by 33% of teenagers. It’s now right down to 17%, after falling 5% within the final two years.
The second lowest app on the listing is Reddit, utilized by solely 14% of teenagers. That is nonetheless greater than double the 6% utilized by Threads, which launched in July final 12 months.
The world is more and more involved in regards to the influence that spending an excessive amount of time on-line can have on youngsters: Australia not too long ago forbidden Folks beneath 16 years of age use social networks. The Pew survey notes that 95% of teenagers have a smartphone, whereas 88% have a desktop or laptop computer laptop at dwelling.
Cease: Yunus Tuğ