The total daily entertainment screen time of teens, 13 to 18 year olds, amounted to ***** hours and ** minutes in the United States in 2021. Nevertheless, this figure for teens show an increase from the figure recorded in 2015, when it amounted to *** hours and ** minutes.

As of June 2020, ** percent of parents to U.S. teens aged 14 to 17 years stated that their kids were spending more than four hours per day on electronic devices since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only ** percent of responding parents stated that their teens had used electronic devices daily for more than four hours before the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the pandemic triggered a rise in the use of electronic devices among American children under 13 and teenagers with screentime now double that of what it used to be across all age groups. YouTube, Netflix and Instagram dominateIn an ongoing survey between 2015 and 2020 it was reported that the most popular video platforms among teens in the U.S. were Netflix and YouTube, and the pandemic has done little to shift that. Cable TV viewership continued to decline throughout 2020, while Hulu rose in popularity during this time. Meanwhile, despite a slight drop in viewership Netflix and YouTube retained their positions as the top two video services after the onset of the pandemic. YouTube and Instagram were also named the most popular social media channels among teens and young adults, as of the third quarter of 2020. Due to their booming popularity, it is no wonder that advertisers have been increasingly targeting these networks, with social media add spend having been on the rise each year since 2017. The biggest growth surge has come from mobile advertising, while spend on desktop advertising has remained nearly the same. Texting and phone calls most preferred during lockdownAs most of the world entered lockdown during the peak of the Coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, teens in the U.S. were asked which technologies they had used to virtually connect with friends and family during this time. 'Texting' was the most preferred method, named by over ** percent followed by phone calls. Meanwhile, video chat and social media came in third.

How much time do people spend on social media? As of 2025, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 141 minutes per day, down from 143 minutes in the previous year. Currently, the country with the most time spent on social media per day is Brazil, with online users spending an average of 3 hours and 49 minutes on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in the U.S. was just 2 hours and 16 minutes. Global social media usageCurrently, the global social network penetration rate is 62.3 percent. Northern Europe had an 81.7 percent social media penetration rate, topping the ranking of global social media usage by region. Eastern and Middle Africa closed the ranking with 10.1 and 9.6 percent usage reach, respectively. People access social media for a variety of reasons. Users like to find funny or entertaining content and enjoy sharing photos and videos with friends, but mainly use social media to stay in touch with current events friends. Global impact of social mediaSocial media has a wide-reaching and significant impact on not only online activities but also offline behavior and life in general. During a global online user survey in February 2019, a significant share of respondents stated that social media had increased their access to information, ease of communication, and freedom of expression. On the flip side, respondents also felt that social media had worsened their personal privacy, increased a polarization in politics and heightened everyday distractions.