Half of teenagers in the US are nearly always on social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, according to a study, raising concerns over technology's impact on youths.
The study by the Pew Research Centre, based on a survey of US teenagers between the ages of 13 to 17, showed that nine in 10 teenagers reported that they were mostly on YouTube.
Overall, 73 per cent of teens report going to YouTube daily, making it the most popular and frequently visited site. This share includes 15 percent who say their use is "almost constant.
"Nearly half of teens say they are online almost constantly, up from 24 percent a decade ago. This share has remained steady over the past few years. On balance, nearly all teenagers-those 96 percent-report going online daily," the report said.
The alarming report comes even as the Australian government, last month, passed a social media ban for children under 16. The ban will apply to Instagram, X, Snapchat, and others from late 2025.
Meanwhile, Pew research showed that about 6-in-10 teenagers in the US reported using TikTok and Instagram, and 55 per cent said they use Snapchat.
About six-in-10 also say they go on TikTok every day. This includes 16 per cent who report being on it almost constantly.
Roughly half of teens say they go on Instagram or Snapchat every day. This includes about one-in-10 who say they're on each of these platforms almost constantly.
The share of teens who say they use Instagram almost constantly has risen slightly, from 8 per cent in 2023 to 12 per cent today.
The use of Facebook (32 per cent) and X (17 per cent) has steeply declined over the past decade among teenagers.
Further, about a quarter of teenagers (23 per cent) said they use WhatsApp, while 14 per cent reported using Reddit.
Across all five platforms, one-third of teens use at least one of these sites almost constantly.
Interestingly, "no gender differences" were found in the shares of teenagers who reported using Instagram and Facebook almost constantly.
Teenage girls, however, use Instagram (66 percent vs. 56 percent), and TikTok more extensively than teenage boys (66 percent vs 59 percent). Meanwhile, boys are more likely than girls to use YouTube (93 percent vs. 87 percent).
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