A fifth of American teens use YouTube 'almost constantly', with TikTok not far behind

Pew Research has released a new report that examines social media usage trends among American teens. The organization found that 95% of them use YouTube, while 19% are on the platform "almost constantly".

Unsurprisingly, two-thirds (67%) said they used TikTok, and 16% said they were on the app "almost constantly." The third most popular social media platform among teens is Instagram, according to Pew, with 62% using it. A tenth say they use it almost all the time, even though the app sometimes tells them to take a break. A previous poll in 2014-15 found that 52% used Instagram (Pew didn't ask about YouTube usage for this survey and TikTok didn't exist at the time).

Snapchat has also increased among teens, with 59% using it in 2022, up from 41% in the previous survey. Facebook was the number one social media app among teens seven years ago, with 71% using it, but that number has dropped to 32%. Teen adoption of Twitter (from 33% to 23%) and Tumblr (from 14% to 5%) also declined over the same period.

The 2014-15 poll did not ask about Twitch, WhatsApp or Reddit. One-fifth of teens use Twitch these days, 17% are on WhatsApp, and 14% access Reddit. For what it's worth, the previous poll suggested that 33% of teens use Google+, while a quarter use Vine. This time around, Pew didn't ask teens about their use of Discord or social gaming spaces such as Fortnite.

Pew surveyed 1,316 teens between the ages of 13 and 17 (and one of their parents) in April and May. He revealed that boys were more likely to use YouTube, Twitch and Reddit and girls were more likely to say they access TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. More black and Hispanic teens reported using TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp than white teens.

While more than half (54%) of teens said they would find it hard to give up social media, 36% admitted they spent too much time on the platforms. Around 55% said their usage levels were "about right". Meanwhile, 97% of teens now use the internet every day, with 46% saying they are online almost all the time.

The survey found that 95% of teens have access to a smartphone (up from 73% in 2014-2015), while 90% can access a desktop or laptop computer, up from 87% in the previous survey . Surprisingly, the percentage of teenagers who report having access to a game console has decreased slightly, from 81% to 80%.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.