Nearly half of American teenagers, children ages 13 to 17, say they are online constantly,
despite concerns about the effects of social media and smartphones on their mental health.
The information comes from a report that was recently released by the Pew Research Center.
As in past years, YouTube was the most popular platform teenagers used.
Around 90% said they watched videos on the website, down slightly from 95% in 2022.
Nearly 75% of those questioned said they visit YouTube every day.
There was a small downward change in several popular apps teens used.
For example, 63% of teens said they used TikTok, down from 67%.
Snapchat use went to 55% from 59%.
This small decline could be due to pandemic-era restrictions easing up and kids having more
time to see friends in person.
But the change is probably not big enough to be truly meaningful.
X saw the biggest decline among teenage users.
Only 17% of teenagers said they use X, down from 23% in 2022, the year Elon Musk bought the platform.
Reddit usage remained the same at 14%.
About 6% of teenagers said they use Threads, Metta's answer to X that launched in 2023.
The report comes as countries around the world try to understand the effects of social
media on young people's well-being.
Australia recently passed a law banning children under 16 from social networks.
Still, it is unclear how the Australian government will be able to enforce the age limit.
It is also unclear whether such a ban will come with unexpected or bad effects, such as isolating some children.
Metta's messaging service WhatsApp was different in that it saw the number of teenage users
increase to 23% from 17% in 2022.
Pew also asked teenagers how often they use different online platforms.
A small but notable number said they are on them almost constantly.
For YouTube, 15% reported constant use, for TikTok, 16%, and for Snapchat, 13%.
As in previous public opinion studies, girls were more likely to use TikTok almost constantly,
while boys went to YouTube.
There was no meaningful gender difference in the use of Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook.
Around 25% of Black and Hispanic teens said they visit TikTok almost constantly, compared
with just 8% of white teenagers.
The report was based on a public opinion study of 1,391 U.S. teenagers that ran from September
18 to October 10, 2024. I'm John Russell.