Despite mounting mental health concerns, teens remain heavy social media users
Despite growing worry that social media use can harm youth mental health, teens still use major platforms at high rates, according to a new survey conducted by Pew Research Center. About half the respondents characterized their use as “almost constant.”
The online survey of 1,453 U.S. teens between the ages of 13 and 17 was conducted this fall, months after the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning that social media can pose a “profound risk of harm” to youth.
Pew Research Center said in a report detailing the findings that teens’ site and app usage had changed little since spring 2022, the last time the center surveyed youth about their social media habits.
The survey did not ask how teens felt about their use, or whether it affected their mental health and well-being.
Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth, chief medical officer of The Jed Foundation (JED), did not review the findings prior to publication but said that social media platforms remain vital for teens.
They are spaces where youth build community, develop their interests, learn about the news, find health information, explore their identities, and distract themselves from stressors.
“Young people have a fear of missing out, which is based in reality since so many of their peers are online,” Erickson-Schroth said.
She believes it’s unrealistic to expect teens to be solely responsible for how they engage social media, even if their experiences aren’t uniformly positive.
For teens who feel alone and isolated, including those who live in areas that are hostile to their sexuality or gender identity, social media can help them find safe and accepting peers.
In general, teens are also at a key developmental stage in which they’re seeking validation and recognition, Erickson-Schroth said. Social media platforms can take advantage of those needs by inviting them to regularly post text, pictures, and videos with the hope that friends and strangers alike will find them funny, smart, attractive, charming, or clever. That incentive also makes it harder to quit social media.
Which social media platforms are most popular amongst teens?
Teens surveyed by the Pew Research Center survey had a clear favorite amongst the major social media platforms.
Asked how often they used the five platforms YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, roughly 9 in 10 participants reported that they frequented YouTube. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents said they used TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. That share increased to about 70 percent of respondents amongst 15- to 17-year-olds. Teen use of Facebook and X/Twitter has fallen markedly over the last decade.
The report detailed some differences based on gender, race and ethnicity, and income. Twenty-two percent of teen girls, for example, reported almost constant use TikTok compared to 12 percent of boys. More Hispanic and Black teens said they constantly used YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, whereas a smaller share of white teens did the same.
Facebook and TikTok usage remains higher among teens in lower-income households compared to the highest-income households.
Overall, Pew Research Center found that a third of teens use at least one of the five platforms almost constantly.
Who’s responsible for helping teens change their social media use?
Erickson-Schroth said she worries that teens who use social media almost constantly are missing out on “invaluable” in-person experiences, like socializing with friends and family, and being in nature.
She said that teens can moderate their social media use by actively thinking about how they interact with platforms, including what aspects of their use bring them down and cause difficult emotions, as well as what connects them to community and helps them explore their identities and new ideas.
Ultimately, however, the responsibility of helping teens develop healthier social media use habits should rest with the companies that operate platforms, Erickson-Schroth said.
She argued that tech and social media companies could take a number of steps to improve youth experiences online. That includes aggressively moderating harmful content, making data available to researchers so they can study youth well-being, and making it possible for youth to better control their online environment. Policymakers should also create a minimum set of safety standards for youth online, which currently doesn’t exist, Erickson-Schroth said.
Some social media companies have launched new safety initiatives as pressure grows to improve safety online for teens.
YouTube, whose parent company is Google, recently announced it would limit harmful repetitive content for teens, like videos that compare physical features and favor some types over others and idealize specific fitness levels or body weights. Earlier this year, YouTube updated its guidelines to remove content promoting or glorifying eating disorders.
“We should be talking about who’s responsible for making sure that young people are safe online, and the answer is adults,” Erickson-Schroth said. “The high-level answer is adults in social media companies and adults in policy and government positions.”