What Social Media Do Teens Use?
Social media use among teens may be widespread, but not all platforms are made equal, and their usage differs from network to network. Recent research indicates variations in platform preferences and frequency of access based on gender and race. Here are some statistics that illustrate social media use among teenagers in the United States.
Teen social media use: top platforms
|
Social network |
Percentage of US teens who say they use the social media platform |
|---|---|
|
1. YouTube |
93% |
|
2. TikTok |
63% |
|
3. Snapchat |
60% |
|
4. Instagram |
59% |
|
5. Facebook |
33% |
|
6. Discord |
28% |
|
7. WhatsApp |
21% |
|
8. X (formerly known as Twitter) |
20% |
|
9. Twitch |
17% |
|
10. Reddit |
14% |
|
11. BeReal |
13% |
What social media do teens use the most? According to a recent Pew Research Center study, YouTube leads the pack, with 93% of surveyed US teens using it in 2023, a slight dip from 95% in 2022. TikTok follows closely behind as the second-most-used platform, with 63% of teens engaging with it last year.
What about other popular social media networks? What percent of teens use social network sites like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram? As it turns out, this figure varies quite a bit from platform to platform.
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Just one-third of teens said they used Facebook in 2023. Even though this was a one-percentage-point increase from 2022, it represented a major decline since 2015. That year, as many as 71% of teens used Facebook.
Usage of Snapchat and Instagram is comparable. 60% and 59% of teens said they used Snapchat and Instagram in 2023, respectively. Unlike Facebook, teens’ usage of Snapchat has grown since 2015, from 41%.
Other social media platforms popular among teens include messaging apps Discord and WhatsApp, used by 28% and 21% of them, respectively. Meanwhile, as the user base of X (formerly known as Twitter) shrinks, its usage among teens has also fallen, from 33% in 2015, to 20% in 2023.
Compared to the top platform YouTube, lesser-known sites like Twitch, Reddit, and BeReal enjoy far lower popularity among teenagers. They’re used by fewer than one in five US teens.
Social media use among teenagers: breakdown by gender
|
Social network |
Percentage of teenage US boys who use the social network |
Percentage of teenage US girls who use the social network |
|---|---|---|
|
YouTube |
96% |
91% |
|
TikTok |
59% |
68% |
|
Snapchat |
56% |
65% |
|
|
53% |
66% |
|
|
29% |
36% |
|
|
21% |
21% |
|
X (formerly known as Twitter) |
21% |
19% |
|
|
18% |
10% |
|
BeReal |
8% |
19% |
Gender influences social media preferences among teenagers. Platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook are more popular among female teens. Conversely, male teens show a preference for YouTube and Reddit, according to research.
Social media use among teenagers: breakdown by race
|
Percentage of US teens who say they use TikTok “almost constantly” |
|
|---|---|
|
All US teens |
17% |
|
White |
10% |
|
Black |
20% |
|
Hispanic |
32% |
|
Percentage of US teens who say they use YouTube “almost constantly” |
|
|---|---|
|
All US teens |
16% |
|
White |
9% |
|
Black |
23% |
|
Hispanic |
27% |
|
Percentage of US teens who say they use Snapchat “almost constantly” |
|
|---|---|
|
All US teens |
14% |
|
White |
12% |
|
Black |
12% |
|
Hispanic |
20% |
|
Percentage of US teens who say they use Instagram “almost constantly” |
|
|---|---|
|
All US teens |
8% |
|
White |
3% |
|
Black |
15% |
|
Hispanic |
16% |
|
Percentage of US teens who say they use Facebook “almost constantly” |
|
|---|---|
|
All US teens |
3% |
|
White |
2% |
|
Black |
4% |
|
Hispanic |
5% |
Differences in social media usage among teens also vary by race and ethnicity.
Black and Hispanic teens tend to spend more time on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok compared to White teens. In particular, Hispanic teens demonstrate higher usage rates on TikTok and Snapchat. For example, 32% of Hispanic teens report being on TikTok almost constantly. This figure falls to 20% for Black teens and 10% for white teens.