Which platforms teens actually use
| Platform | Teens who use it | Use it daily | 'Almost constantly' |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | ≈90% | ≈75% | ≈20% |
| TikTok | 68% | 61% | 21% |
| 63% | 55% | 12% | |
| Snapchat | 55% | 46% | 12% |
| 31% | 20% | 3% | |
| 24% (up from 17% in 2022) | — | — | |
| X (Twitter) | 16% (down from 33% a decade ago) | — | — |
Source: Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025 (survey of 1,458 US teens aged 13–17, Sept–Oct 2025)
The platform hierarchy has been remarkably stable since 2022 — YouTube near-universal, TikTok and Instagram dominant, Facebook and X in long decline. What has shifted is intensity: across the five biggest platforms, 36% of teens now use at least one of them "almost constantly", and nearly half of teens describe themselves as online almost constantly overall, up from 24% a decade ago.
of teens are on at least one major platform 'almost constantly'.
Pew Research Center, Dec 2025girls' association between social media time and depression risk vs boys' in pooled studies.
IJERPH meta-analysis, 2022average daily social media time reported by US teens — girls higher than boys.
Gallup, 2023The new arrival: AI chatbots
December 2025 was the first time Pew measured teen chatbot use, and the numbers arrived fully formed: 64% of teens have used an AI chatbot, about three in ten use one daily, and 16% use one several times a day or almost constantly. ChatGPT dominates at 59%, followed by Gemini (23%) and Meta AI (20%). Just over half of teens have used chatbots for schoolwork help — and 12% say they have turned to one for emotional support. For parents, this is a genuinely new category of digital behaviour: it didn't meaningfully exist in their child's life three years ago, and most family conversations and household rules haven't caught up with it.
What teens themselves say about it
Perhaps the most under-reported finding in recent teen research is that teens are increasingly critical of social media themselves. In Pew's research, 48% of teens now say social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age — a sharp rise from 32% in 2022. About 45% say they personally spend too much time on it (up from 36%), and 44% report having tried to cut back on social media or their phone overall. Teen girls are more likely than boys to say social media hurts their sleep, productivity and self-confidence.
The mental health evidence
The most rigorous quantitative summary remains a 2022 dose-response meta-analysis covering 26 studies and more than 55,000 adolescents: higher social media time was associated with 1.6 times the odds of depressive symptoms overall, rising in a roughly linear line — about 13% higher risk per additional daily hour. The association was markedly stronger for girls (OR 1.72) than boys (OR 1.20). Separately, WHO Europe's school-age survey found the share of adolescents showing problematic social media use — loss of control, withdrawal, neglect of other activities — rose from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022.
Two honest caveats belong next to those numbers. Most of the underlying studies are correlational, so causation runs both ways: low mood can drive heavier use as much as heavy use can drive low mood. And a growing research camp argues the average effects are small, with the real risk concentrated in how platforms are used — passive scrolling, social comparison, compulsive checking — rather than time itself. That is precisely why duration-only measures keep failing parents: the same three hours can be group chats with friends or a feed drifting steadily toward appearance and body-image content, and a time counter cannot tell the difference.
Regulatory context: concern about these patterns is now driving law. Australia became the first country to require platforms to keep under-16s off social media accounts, effective December 2025 — see our Australia screen time statistics page for the data behind that decision and how compliance is going.
You can't guide what you can't see — and hours aren't seeing.
ThirdLife gives parents a pattern-level view of how their teen's digital life is trending — themes, safety signals and AI use, never private messages. The beta is live — join the queue for the next wave.
Join the beta queueFrequently asked questions
What social media do teens use most in 2026?
YouTube, used by about 9 in 10 US teens, followed by TikTok (68%), Instagram (63%) and Snapchat (55%). Facebook and X have declined steeply over the past decade, per Pew Research Center's December 2025 survey.
How many teens use AI chatbots?
64% of US teens have used an AI chatbot and about 3 in 10 use one daily, according to Pew's December 2025 survey — the first time it measured this. ChatGPT is by far the most used at 59% of teens.
Is social media bad for teen mental health?
The evidence shows a consistent association: a meta-analysis of 26 studies found roughly 13% higher depression risk per additional daily hour of social media, stronger for girls. But most studies are correlational, and researchers increasingly argue that how platforms are used — passive, comparative, compulsive use — matters more than raw time.
How many teens are online 'almost constantly'?
Roughly half of teens describe themselves as online almost constantly, up from 24% a decade ago. 36% say they use at least one major platform almost constantly.
Sources
- Pew Research Center — Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025
- Pew Research Center — Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024
- Pew Research Center — 10 facts about teens and social media
- Liu et al. — Time Spent on Social Media and Risk of Depression in Adolescents: A Dose–Response Meta-Analysis, IJERPH 2022
- WHO Regional Office for Europe / HBSC — Teens, screens and mental health (2024)
- Gallup — Teens Spend Average of 4.8 Hours on Social Media Per Day (2023)