As governments around the world consider new measures to restrict teen use of social apps, Pew Research’s latest statistics on teen social media use come at a particularly interesting time, as they reveal where teens are paying attention and how much Time they actually spend spending on social apps.

Based on a survey of 1,391 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 and their parents, the report provides an overview of where teens engage and which apps are top of mind for this cohort.

And it’s no surprise that YouTube continues to be a leader in this space.

As you can see, YouTube has declined slightly since the last Pew survey, although it was still flagged by 90% of participants as an app they use regularly.

YouTube is considered less of a social app and more of a video platform, as it doesn’t focus as much on social elements (interestingly, YouTube has been exempt from Australia’s new social media ban for under-16s). However, it is still technically a social app, and its influence remains huge, driving cultural trends among young audiences.

Instagram and WhatsApp are the only apps whose usage has increased since Pew’s last teen report, although TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat remain the top social apps teens use to stay connected.

According to Pew:

“About six in 10 teens say they use TikTok and Instagram, and 55% say the same for Snapchat.”

That’s pretty much what most would expect, as these apps will remain “the big three” for teens for some time to come, while both Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) have declined significantly in this group over the last decade.

“Today, 32% of teens say they use Facebook. This is down from 71% in 2014-2015, although the proportion of teenagers using the site has remained stable in recent years. And 17% of teens say they use”

Both Facebook and So if you want to reach teenagers, you probably shouldn’t market these apps.

However, the really interesting data in this report is probably how much time teens spend in each app:

As you can see from this overview, YouTube and TikTok are the platforms where teens are most likely to spend the most time.

“Overall, 73% of teens say they use YouTube daily, making YouTube the most used place And visited platform that we asked about. This proportion includes 15% who describe their usage as “almost constant”. About six in ten visit TikTok daily. This includes 16% who say they take it almost all the time.”

“Almost constantly” is a worrisome label, but that’s how Pew has characterized these persistent users who are virtually always active on social apps.

On this basis, YouTube and TikTok are likely to be the most problematic for youth social media use, arguing that social media is unduly harmful to youth (expert opinions on this vary). However, Instagram and Snapchat tend to receive more attention in this regard, with Instagram in particular being highlighted in various reports as being harmful to the mental health of young girls.

The data here suggests that both YouTube and TikTok are far more addictive and arguably have a greater impact on impressionable minds.

Overall, however, more young people are spending more time online:

In terms of gender distribution, data shows that teenage girls are more likely than boys to say they use TikTok almost constantly, while boys are more likely to use YouTube than girls.

As you can see, the gender splits are much more similar across other apps, which is another consideration when it comes to marketing spend.

Pew’s full report contains more information about usage across different demographic groups, including ethnicity-specific usage and household income data.

Some valuable insights for anyone wanting to reach young people online.

You can view the full report here.