For the latest survey data on social media and tech use among teens, see “Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025.”

Despite negative headlines and growing concerns about social media’s impact on youth, teens continue to use these platforms at high rates – with some describing their social media use as “almost constant,” according to a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens.

The survey – conducted Sept. 26-Oct. 23, 2023, among 1,453 13- to 17-year-olds – covered social media, internet use and device ownership among teens.

Here’s a look at the key findings related to online platforms:

YouTube continues to dominate. Roughly nine-in-ten teens say they use YouTube, making it the most widely used platform measured in our survey.

TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram remain popular among teens: Majorities of teens ages 13 to 17 say they use TikTok (63%), Snapchat (60%) and Instagram (59%). For older teens ages 15 to 17, these shares are about seven-in-ten.

Teens are less likely to be using Facebook and Twitter (recently renamed X) than they were a decade ago: Facebook once dominated the social media landscape among America’s youth, but the share of teens who use the site has dropped from 71% in 2014-2015 to 33% today. Twitter, which was renamed X in July 2023, has also seen its teen user base shrink during the past decade – albeit at a less steep decline than Facebook.

Teens’ site and app usage has changed little in the past year. The share of teens using these platforms has remained relatively stable since spring 2022, when the Center last surveyed on these topics. For example, the percentage of teens who use TikTok is statistically unchanged since last year.

And for the first time, we asked teens about using BeReal: 13% report using this app.

Related:

• Teens and adults weigh in on social media policies aimed at youth
• Where teens and adults stand on banning TikTok

How often do teens visit online platforms?

In addition to asking teens about the types of platforms they use, we also asked them how often they use five specific platforms: YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. 

YouTube, the most widely used platform measured in the survey, is also frequently visited by its users. About seven-in-ten teens say they visit the video-sharing platform daily, including 16% who report being on the site almost constantly.

At the same time, 58% of teens are daily users of TikTok. This includes 17% who describe their TikTok use as almost constant.

About half of teens use Snapchat and Instagram daily. A somewhat larger share reports using Snapchat almost constantly compared with Instagram (14% vs. 8%).

Far fewer teens say they use Facebook on a daily basis (19%), with only 3% saying they are on the site almost constantly.  

Taken together, a third of teens use at least one of these five sites almost constantly – which is similar to what we found last year.   

By gender

Teen girls are more likely than boys to say they almost constantly use TikTok (22% vs. 12%) and Snapchat (17% vs. 12%).

But there are little to no differences in the shares of boys and girls who report almost constantly using YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

By race and ethnicity

We also see differences by race and ethnicity in how much time teens report spending on these platforms.

Larger shares of Black and Hispanic teens report being on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok almost constantly, compared with a smaller share of White teens who say the same.¹

Hispanic teens stand out in TikTok and Snapchat use. For instance, 32% of Hispanic teens say they are on TikTok almost constantly, compared with 20% of Black teens and 10% of White teens.

How use of online platforms differs across demographic groups

While some sites are commonly used among all teens, there are some differences by gender, race and ethnicity, age, and household income.

By gender

Teen girls are more likely than teen boys to say they use Instagram (66% vs. 53%). BeReal, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook also are more commonly used by teen girls.

On the other hand, teen boys are more likely than teen girls to use Discord (34% vs. 22%) and Twitch (22% vs. 11%). Similarly, a larger share of boys than girls use Reddit and YouTube.

By race and ethnicity

Eight-in-ten Black teens report using TikTok, compared with 70% of Hispanic teens and 57% of White teens. Racial and ethnic gaps are also present in use of Twitter: Black teens are more likely than Hispanic or White teens to be Twitter users.

When it comes to WhatsApp, Hispanic teens are more likely than Black or White teens to say they use the messaging platform.

BeReal is the only platform asked about that White teens are more likely to use than Black or Hispanic teens.

By age

Older teens are more likely than younger teens to use many of the platforms asked about, including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Reddit. For example, while 68% of teens ages 15 to 17 say they use Instagram, this share drops to 45% among teens ages 13 and 14.

By household income

While fewer teens overall are using Facebook, our surveys consistently show that usage remains higher among teens in lower-income households. For example, 45% of teens in households earning less than $30,000 a year say they use Facebook, compared with 27% of those whose annual household income is $75,000 or more.

Income gaps are also present in TikTok use: Larger shares of teens in lower-income households are users compared with those in the highest-income households (71% vs. 61%).

In comparison, BeReal is more commonly used among teens in households earning $75,000 or more a year. Some 16% of teens in this category say they use this app, compared with about one-in-ten whose annual household income falls below $75,000.

How much time are teens spending online?

In addition to asking teens about their social media use, we also examined the amount of time they report spending online.

Nearly half of teens say they use the internet “almost constantly.” This is on par with what we found last year, but roughly double the 24% who said this in the 2014-2015 survey.

Overall, more than nine-in-ten say they use the internet at least daily.

By race and ethnicity

As was true in previous Center surveys, the amount of time teens report spending online varies by race and ethnicity.

While 55% of Hispanic and 54% of Black teens report being on the internet almost constantly, the share drops to 38% among White teens.

By age

Older teens ages 15 to 17 are somewhat more likely than younger teens to be near-constant internet users (50% vs. 40%).

Device usage: Smartphones, computers, gaming consoles and tablets

Today’s teens have several ways to go online, connect with others and find information.

Our survey finds that most teens have or have access to a smartphone (95%), a desktop or laptop computer (90%), or a gaming console (83%). A smaller share – though still a 65% majority – say the same for tablets. 

By household income

Smartphone ownership is nearly universal among teens of different genders, ages, races and ethnicities, and economic backgrounds. But having access to a home computer remains less common for those in lower-income households.

Roughly seven-in-ten teens living in households earning less than $30,000 a year (72%) say they have access to a home computer. That share rises among those whose annual household income is $30,000 to $74,999 (87%) or $75,000 and above (94%).

Tablet ownership is also less common among teens in lower-income households: 57% say they have access to a tablet at home, compared with 67% of those living in the highest-income households.

By gender

Most teen boys and girls report having access to a game console at home, but more boys say this than girls (91% vs. 75%).

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals. Find related reports online at pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/internet.

Primary researchers

Monica Anderson, Director, Internet and Technology Research   
Michelle Faverio, Research Analyst 
Jeffrey Gottfried, Associate Director, Research

Research team        

Emily A. Vogels, Research Associate
Colleen McClain, Research Associate
Risa Gelles-Watnick, Research Analyst
Olivia Sidoti, Research Assistant
Lee Rainie, Former Director, Internet and Technology Research 
Eugenie Park, Former Research Intern       

Editorial and graphic design

Kaitlyn Radde, Associate Information Graphics Designer
Anna Jackson, Editorial Assistant

Communications and web publishing

Haley Nolan, Communications Manager
Sara Atske, Digital Producer

In addition, the project benefited greatly from the guidance of Pew Research Center’s methodology team: Courtney Kennedy, Ashley Amaya, Andrew Mercer, Dorene Asare-Marfo, Anna Brown, Arnold Lau and Dana Popky. This project also benefited from feedback by the following Pew Research Center staff: Drew DeSilver, Juliana Horowitz, Besheer Mohamed and John Wade. The Center gained invaluable advice in developing the questionnaire from Dmitri Williams, Professor at University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

The analysis in this report is based on a self-administered web survey conducted from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2023, among a sample of 1,453 dyads, with each dyad (or pair) comprised of one U.S. teen ages 13 to 17 and one parent per teen. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 1,453 teens is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. The survey was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs in English and Spanish using KnowledgePanel, its nationally representative online research panel.

The research plan for this project was submitted to an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra, which is an independent committee of experts that specializes in helping to protect the rights of research participants. The IRB thoroughly vetted this research before data collection began. Due to the risks associated with surveying minors, this research underwent a full board review and received approval (Approval ID Pro00073203).

KnowledgePanel members are recruited through probability sampling methods and include both those with internet access and those who did not have internet access at the time of their recruitment. KnowledgePanel provides internet access for those who do not have it and, if needed, a device to access the internet when they join the panel. KnowledgePanel’s recruitment process was originally based exclusively on a national random-digit-dialing (RDD) sampling methodology. In 2009, Ipsos migrated to an address-based sampling (ABS) recruitment methodology via the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File (DSF). The Delivery Sequence File has been estimated to cover as much as 98% of the population, although some studies suggest that the coverage could be in the low 90% range.²

Panelists were eligible for participation in this survey if they indicated on an earlier profile survey that they were the parent of a teen ages 13 to 17. A random sample of 3,981 eligible panel members were invited to participate in the study. Responding parents were screened and considered qualified for the study if they reconfirmed that they were the parent of at least one child ages 13 to 17 and granted permission for their teen who was chosen to participate in the study. In households with more than one eligible teen, parents were asked to think about one randomly selected teen and that teen was instructed to complete the teen portion of the survey. A survey was considered complete if both the parent and selected teen completed their portions of the questionnaire, or if the parent did not qualify during the initial screening.

Of the sampled panelists, 1,763 (excluding break-offs) responded to the invitation and 1,453 qualified, completed the parent portion of the survey, and had their selected teen complete the teen portion of the survey, yielding a final stage completion rate of 44% and a qualification rate of 82%. The cumulative response rate accounting for nonresponse to the recruitment surveys and attrition is 2.2%. The break-off rate among those who logged on to the survey (regardless of whether they completed any items or qualified for the study) is 26.9%.

Upon completion, qualified respondents received a cash-equivalent incentive worth $10 for completing the survey. To encourage response from non-Hispanic Black panelists, the incentive was increased from $10 to $20 on Oct. 5, 2023. The incentive was increased again on Oct. 10, 2023, from $20 to $40; then to $50 on Oct. 17, 2023; and to $75 on Oct. 20, 2023. Reminders and notifications of the change in incentive were sent for each increase.

All panelists received email invitations and any non-responders received reminders, shown in the table. The field period was closed on Oct. 23, 2023.

Weighting

The analysis in this report was performed using separate weights for parents and teens. The parent weight was created in a multistep process that begins with a base design weight for the parent, which is computed to reflect their probability of selection for recruitment into the KnowledgePanel. These selection probabilities were then adjusted to account for the probability of selection for this survey which included oversamples of Black and Hispanic parents. Next, an iterative technique was used to align the parent design weights to population benchmarks for parents of teens ages 13 to 17 on the dimensions identified in the accompanying table, to account for any differential nonresponse that may have occurred.

To create the teen weight, an adjustment factor was applied to the final parent weight to reflect the selection of one teen per household. Finally, the teen weights were further raked to match the demographic distribution for teens ages 13 to 17 who live with parents. The teen weights were adjusted on the same teen dimensions as parent dimensions with the exception of teen education, which was not used in the teen weighting.

Sampling errors and tests of statistical significance take into account the effect of weighting. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish.

In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

The following table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey:

Sample sizes and sampling errors for subgroups are available upon request.

Dispositions and response rates

The tables below display dispositions used in the calculation of completion, qualification and cumulative response rates.³

© Pew Research Center, 2023