How teenagers used technology in 2024: the latest from Pew Research

Posted on December 27, 2024 by Bryan Alexander

Pew Research has a new report on how American teenagers use social media and related technologies. I’ve long admired and drawn on their research. Today I’ll share highlights and some reflections on this publication, especially aimed at educators.

Much of what follows will be unsurprising to people paying attention to the topic, but there are details media coverage tends to downplay. And it’s useful data to consider instead of anecdotes.

tl;dr — overall use is up, led by video and image apps.

To begin with, teen social media habits fall into three groups. At the top, far above the rest, stands YouTube, which is nearly universal. Next are three platforms clustered together: Snapchat, Instagram, and, of course, TikTok. Below them in use is another group including Facebook, Whatsapp, X/Twitter, Threads, and Reddit:

Note some of the long-term trends: the steady decline of Facebook and X, Instagram’s relative stability. Note, too, how little used is Whatsapp, which is popular being the United States. I’m curious about the slight downward trend for both YouTube and TikTok and wonder about the potential for a Whatapp takeoff, based on its rise over the past two years.