Pew Report: Nearly Half of US Teens Are Online 'constantly'

Friday, December 13, 2024

Nearly half of American teenagers say they are online "constantly" despite concerns about the effects of social media and smartphones on their mental health, according to a new report published Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

Posted by LampLighter at 06:32 PM | 19 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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ðŸ"±@pewresearch.org found American teens are mostly on YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, & Instagram -- some are online almost all the time: www.pewresearch.org/internet/202 ... Pew told me they'll ask if adults & teens are using Bluesky in 2025. Steep decline in teen Twitter & Facebook use seem notable.

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-- Alexander Howard (@digiphile.bsky.social) December 12, 2024 at 10:27 AM

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More from the article...

... As in past years, YouTube was the single most popular platform teenagers used " 90% said they watched videos on the site, down slightly from 95% in 2022. Nearly three-quarters said they visit YouTube every day.

There was a slight downward trend in several popular apps teens used. For instance, 63% of teens said they used TikTok, down from 67% and Snapchat slipped to 55% from 59%. This small decline could be due to pandemic-era restrictions easing up and kids having more time to see friends in person, but it's not enough to be truly meaningful.

X saw the biggest decline among teenage users. Only 17% of teenagers said they use X, down from 23% in 2022, the year Elon Musk bought the platform.

Reddit held steady at 14%.

About 6% of teenagers said they use Threads, Meta's answer to X that launched in 2023. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-12 06:27 PM | Reply

Make reality more palatable to them and maybe they'll come back.

#2 | Posted by NerfHerder at 2024-12-12 07:32 PM | Reply

@#2 ... Make reality more palatable to them...

What is it about the reality that you think they want to eschew?

#3 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-12 07:53 PM | Reply

The poverty and depression.

#4 | Posted by ClownShack at 2024-12-12 08:07 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

But also, how can reality compare to the world of fantasy provided by social media and video games?

#5 | Posted by ClownShack at 2024-12-12 08:08 PM | Reply

Let's see.....school, sports, activities, a job, volunteering for organizations, etc..

reality is......reality.

and healthy mix of everything above with some social media and video games is possible.

#6 | Posted by eberly at 2024-12-12 08:16 PM | Reply | Funny: 1

but it requires parents who can keep themselves off social media and video games.

#7 | Posted by eberly at 2024-12-12 08:18 PM | Reply | Funny: 1 | Newsworthy 2

81% of U.S. adults -- versus 46% of teens -- favor parental consent for minors to use social media (October 2023)
www.pewresearch.org

... More than 40 states and the District of Columbia are suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, alleging its platforms purposefully use addictive features that harm children's mental health.

Amid this news, U.S. adults and teens are more likely to support than oppose requiring parental consent for minors to create a social media account and requiring people to verify their age before using these platforms, according to a pair of new Pew Research Center surveys. But adults are far more supportive than teens of these measures, as well as limiting how much time minors can spend on social media. ...

#8 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-12 08:37 PM | Reply

I was born in 1991 so I really never remember a time when there wasn't an internet connection or a computer at home or even a PS2. When I was 6 we moved to London for a few years and Dad got one of those original StarTacs you could put a credit card into do I always was around mobile and smartphones. So I relate more to teens now than those only a few years older than I. Anyone else here not a boomer or Genx?

#9 | Posted by NerfHerder at 2024-12-12 10:40 PM | Reply

@#9 ... I always was around mobile and smartphones. So I relate more to teens now than those only a few years older than I. Anyone else here not a boomer or Genx? ...

... and the point of your comment regarding the topic of the thread, aside from your #2 comment that you think teens want to live in an apparent dream world, is ...

???

#10 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-12 11:03 PM | Reply

"But also, how can reality compare to the world of fantasy provided by social media and video games?"

People have historically taken refuge in anything. A cave, a castle, a bottle, a needle and spoon, between another's legs, or in a VR universe. Trying to escape one's current reality is nothing new.

#11 | Posted by NerfHerder at 2024-12-12 11:15 PM | Reply

@#11 ... Trying to escape one's current reality is nothing new. ...

Yeah, but children apparently becoming addicted to social media?

Escaping a current reality is one thing, but why?

That's a whole different question, one which you seem to be avoiding.

#12 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-12 11:51 PM | Reply

...it requires parents...
#7 | Posted by eberly

It's funny how many folks in America that think parents have nothing to do but follow and monitor their kids 24/7.

#13 | Posted by TFDNihilist at 2024-12-13 05:31 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

re: #13

But those folks need to maintain their ideology!

#14 | Posted by hamburglar at 2024-12-13 06:12 AM | Reply

Oh, well...60yrs ago it was that danged "rock 'n' roll"...

#15 | Posted by Angrydad at 2024-12-13 03:40 PM | Reply

...and Dungeons and Dragons

#16 | Posted by rstybeach11 at 2024-12-13 03:45 PM | Reply

Trying to escape one's current reality is nothing new.
#11 | Posted by NerfHerder

It's not that it's nothing new, it's the percentages.

#17 | Posted by oneironaut at 2024-12-13 03:49 PM | Reply

I'm not at all surprised. I think it has played a big part in the "gender identity" culture crisis... among other things.

Adolescents spend all day pretending to be what they aren't while their brains are still developing. Living vicariously through their online avatars they are chronically deluded about the real-life self versus the online self-image.

In the virtual world, they can satisfy that part of their brain that likes to run, dance, fight, and engage in super edgy unbridled sex without breaking a sweat in reality land.

All the fun without the actual effort. Is it any wonder kids are too fat to have flesh-on-flesh sex in the back seat of a Corolla?

#18 | Posted by RightisTrite at 2024-12-14 03:17 AM | Reply

" #18 | POSTED BY RIGHTISTRITE AT 2024-12-14 03:17 AM | FLAG: "

Great post. I felt it was both newsworthy and funny. I can't flag it for both so I am acknowledging it as both.

#19 | Posted by BellRinger at 2024-12-14 03:54 AM | Reply