Teenagers in the U.S. are finding it hard to tear themselves away from YouTube and TikTok, according to a new study of 13- to 17-year-olds by the Pew Research Center. Pew found that “nearly 1 in 5 saying they use the video-streaming apps ‘almost constantly.’” YouTube topped the chart for the second consecutive year, with 93 percent, “roughly 9 in 10 teens” saying they regularly use YouTube. That far outstrips TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, which manage to creep to about 70 percent among a subset of teens 15 to 17. Among the total teen sample, that falls to 63 percent for TikTok, 60 percent for Snapchat and 59 percent for Instagram, according to Pew.

YouTube flips that script, with 94 percent of 13- to 14-year-olds saying they regularly use YouTube. The number falls slightly, to 92 percent among teens ages 15 to 17.

The survey — conducted September 26 to October 23, 2023, among 1,453 13- to 17-year-olds — covered social media, Internet use and device ownership among teens.

“One third of the teen respondents said they used at least one of those apps ‘almost constantly,’ CNN says of the study, adding that “the share of teens reporting that they use the Internet almost constantly has nearly doubled to 46 percent in the eight years since Pew first released the survey in 2015.”

Pew’s report comes on the heels of lawsuits alleging social media companies harm young people and can be detrimental to their mental health. The New Mexico attorney general filed one such suit last week against Meta Platforms, citing the company’s Facebook and Instagram.

“Regarding Facebook, the Pew Research authors wrote that the share of teens who use the Meta-owned social media app ‘has dropped from 71 percent in 2014-2015 to 33 percent today,’” writes CNBC. Twitter, renamed X this summer, is also falling in popularity among U.S. teens, “albeit at a less steep decline than Facebook,” Pew says.

Teenage girls are more likely to use apps including BeReal, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook than male youth. Teenage boys “were more likely to use video game-centric messaging and social apps such as Discord and Twitch,” CNBC reports.

In a separate survey also released this month, Pew found the share of U.S. adults who say they would support the U.S. government banning TikTok, which is controlled by the Beijing-based ByteDance, has declined from 50 percent in March to 38 percent now. Among U.S. teens ages 13 to 17, Pew found that only 18 percent support a government TikTok ban.

Related:
Social Platforms Want Appeals Court to Intervene in Battle Over Teen Addiction, MediaPost, 12/14/23
Judge Upholds Texas TikTok Ban on Government Devices, The New York Times, 12/11/23
Sunak Considers Crackdown on Young Teens’ Social Media Use, Bloomberg, 12/14/23