Internet use among teens shows no sign of slowing down
With increasing worries about how technology affects young people, a new Pew Research Center survey shows that teens in the United States are as digitally connected as ever. Nearly half of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 report being online “almost constantly,” illustrating the deep integration of social media and internet use in their daily lives.
The most widely used platform is YouTube. Approximately ninety percent of teens use the site. About seventy-three percent visit YouTube daily, and fifteen percent describe their usage as “almost constant.” This marks a slight drop from ninety-five percent in 2022, but the video platform continues to dominate teen digital habits.
TikTok and Instagram are also key fixtures in teen life. About sixty percent of teens use each platform, with sixteen percent saying they are on TikTok almost constantly. Instagram’s near-constant usage has grown slightly, from eight percent in 2023 to twelve percent now. Researchers found that fifty-five percent of teens still use Snapchat.
Facebook’s popularity among teens fell compared to a decade ago, with just thirty-two percent of teens using the platform which held steady in recent years but now show a steep decline from seventy-one percent in 2014-15. X, formerly known as Twitter, has also seen a sharp decline. Just seventeen percent of teens use it today, down from thirty-three percent a decade ago.
WhatsApp is gaining modest ground, with twenty-three percent of teens now using the messaging app, up from seventeen percent in 2022. Reddit usage, however, remains steady at fourteen percent. Threads, Meta’s new social media platform, has struggled to catch on, with only six percent of teens reporting using it.
Researchers also found distinct patterns in social media usage based on gender, race, and household income. Teen girls are likelier to use TikTok and Instagram than boys, while boys favor YouTube. About sixty-six percent of girls use TikTok, compared to fifty-nine percent of boys.
In contrast, ninety-three percent of boys use YouTube, compared to eighty-seven percent of girls. Boys are also more likely to be on YouTube “almost constantly,” with nineteen percent reporting this level of use compared to eleven percent of girls.
Racial and ethnic differences are apparent. Black and Hispanic teens use TikTok and Instagram more than White teens. About seventy-nine percent of Black teens and seventy-four percent of Hispanic teens use TikTok, compared to just fifty-four percent of White teens.
Additionally, twenty-eight percent of Black teens and twenty-five percent of Hispanic teens say they are on TikTok almost constantly, compared to just eight percent of White teens.
Lower-income households are also more likely to have teens using platforms like Facebook and TikTok. Among teens in families earning less than $30,000 a year, forty-five percent use Facebook, while just twenty-nine percent of teens in households earning $75,000 or more use the platform. Similarly, seventy-three percent of lower-income teens use TikTok, compared to fifty-nine percent in higher-income households.
Internet use among teens shows no sign of slowing down. Nearly ninety-six percent of teens go online daily, and forty-six percent are online almost constantly—which has nearly doubled since 2014.
Black and Hispanic teens report higher levels of constant internet use, with more than half saying they are online almost all the time, compared to thrity-seven percent of White teens.
Teens continue to have widespread access to digital devices. About ninety-five percent have or can use a smartphone, with older teens (ninety-eight percent) slightly outpacing younger ones (ninety percent).
Access to computers remains high, with eighty-eight percent reporting they have a desktop or laptop at home. Teens from higher-income families are more likely to have a computer, with ninety-three percent of those earning $75,000 or more having access, compared to seventy-eight percent of teens in lower-income households.
Gaming consoles are another staple in teen households, with eighty-three percent of teens reporting they have access to one. Boys lead in this category, with ninety percent saying they have a console compared to seventy-six percent of girls. Tablet ownership is also rising, increasing from sixty-five percent in 2023 to seventy percent today.
Stacy M. Brown is senior national correspondent for the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)/Black Press USA. Follow him @StacyBrownMedia. This article was distributed by NNPA Newswire.