Teen Social Media Statistics: Which Apps and How Often
Which apps do teenagers actually use, and how much of their day do those apps take up? The clearest numbers come from Pew Research Center, which has asked U.S. teens the same questions for more than a decade.
92% of U.S. teens use YouTube, 68% TikTok and 63% Instagram — and 4 in 10 say they are online almost constantly.
Which apps teens use
| App | Teens who use it | |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 92% | |
| TikTok | 68% | |
| 63% | ||
| Snapchat | 55% | |
| 31% | ||
| 24% | ||
| 17% | ||
| X (Twitter) | 16% |
Used every day
| App | Daily | |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 76% | |
| TikTok | 61% | |
| 55% | ||
| Snapchat | 46% | |
| 20% |
Used "almost constantly"
| App | Almost constantly | |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok | 21% | |
| YouTube | 17% | |
| 12% | ||
| Snapchat | 12% | |
| 3% |
Then and now
| Measure | Change | |
|---|---|---|
| Online almost constantly | 24% → 40% | |
| Use Facebook | 71% → 31% | |
| Use X (Twitter) | 33% → 16% | |
| Use WhatsApp (since 2022) | 17% → 24% | |
| TikTok almost constantly (since 2022) | 16% → 21% |
The headline numbers
- YouTube is near-universal: 92% of teens use it and 76% use it every day.
- TikTok is the most intense: 68% use it, 61% daily, and 21% say they are on it almost constantly — up from 16% in 2022.
- 40% of teens are online almost constantly, up from 24% in 2014–15 (the share was 46% in 2022–2024).
- Facebook has collapsed among teens: from 71% in 2014–15 to 31% today. X has halved, from 33% to 16%.
- AI chatbots are the new entry: 64% of teens say they use one, about three in ten every day.
What these numbers measure
These are self-reported answers from a survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17. "Almost constantly" is the teen's own description, not a measured number of hours, and the figures describe the United States — patterns elsewhere can differ. Pew asks largely the same questions in each wave, which is what makes the changes over time comparable.
If you are a parent
How much time is typical at each age is on our screen time by age page, and our article on how your own phone use shapes theirs explains why rules alone rarely work.
Sources
- Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025 (December 9, 2025) — survey of 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17, September 25 to October 9, 2025. www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/12/09/teens-social-media-and-ai-chatbots-2025/
- Pew Research Center, topline questionnaire with full results for all survey waves (2014–15, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/PI_2025.12.09_Teens-Social-Media-AI_TOPLINE.pdf
Page last reviewed: September 2026. We update the figures when Pew publishes a new survey wave.
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Frequently asked questions
Which social media apps do teens use most?
YouTube, used by 92% of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17, followed by TikTok (68%), Instagram (63%) and Snapchat (55%), according to Pew Research Center's 2025 survey. Facebook (31%), WhatsApp (24%), Reddit (17%) and X (16%) are used by far fewer teens.
How many teens are online almost constantly?
40% of U.S. teens say they are online almost constantly (Pew Research Center, 2025) — up from 24% in 2014–15, though slightly below the 46% recorded from 2022 to 2024.
How many teens use TikTok every day?
61% of U.S. teens use TikTok every day, and 21% say they are on it almost constantly — the highest "almost constantly" share of any platform in Pew's 2025 survey.
Do teens still use Facebook?
Only 31% of U.S. teens use Facebook, down from 71% in 2014–15, and just 3% say they use it almost constantly.
Do teens use AI chatbots?
Yes — 64% of U.S. teens say they use an AI chatbot such as ChatGPT, and about three in ten do so every day, according to Pew Research Center's 2025 survey.