Female teens aged 13 to 18 years had an average daily entertainment screen time of eight hours and two minutes in the United States in 2021. In comparison, male tweens had an average screen time of six hours and 11 minutes.

As of June 2020, 62 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 32 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 dominate

In 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 lockdown

As 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 80 percent followed by phone calls. Meanwhile, video chat and social media came in third.

According to a 2023 survey conducted in the United States, teenagers spent an average of 4.8 hours every day on social media platforms. Girls spent 5.3 hours on social networks daily, compared to 4.4 hours for boys. YouTube and TikTok were the most popular online networks among those aged 13 to 19, with 1.9 and 1.5 hours of average daily engagement, respectively. The most used platform for girls was TikTok, while the most used platform for boys was YouTube. Are teens constantly connected to social media? YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat are the most attractive and time-consuming platforms for young internet users. A survey conducted in the U.S. in 2023 found that 62 percent of teenagers were almost constantly connected to Instagram, and 17 percent were almost constantly connected to TikTok. Overall, 71 percent of teens used YouTube daily, and 47 percent used Snapchat daily. Furthermore, YouTube had a 93 percent reach among American teens in 2023, down from 95 percent in 2022. Teens and their internet devices For younger generations especially, social media is mostly accessed via mobile devices, and almost all teenagers in the United States have smartphone access. A 2023 survey conducted in the U.S. found that 92 percent of teens aged 13 to 14 years had access to a smartphone at home, as well as 97 percent of those aged 15 to 17. Additionally, U.S. girls were slightly more likely than their male counterparts to have access to a smartphone.

As of 2024, 18 percent of French children aged between 7 to 12 years old spent three hours or more on a screen outside of school. For teenagers aged 16 to 19 years old, that share explodes to reach 73 percent that same year.

In 2022, French children aged six and younger spent on average six hours watching television or on the internet per week, while the gaming screen time slightly surpassed four hours. Teenagers spent a total screen time of 17 hours and 48 minutes online every week in France that same year.

Teens aged 13 to 18 years spent an average of three hours and 16 minutes watching TV or videos daily in the United States in 2021. Moreover, teens spent an average of 20 minutes video-chatting.

The total daily entertainment screen time of teens, 13 to 18 year olds, amounted to eight hours and 39 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 six hours and 40 minutes.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2024, around 31 percent of teenage respondents stated that they spent between three and four hours on their smartphones every day. Almost one in four reported spending more than four hours on their phones. That year, teenagers spent an average of 181.2 minutes on their smartphones daily.

According to a survey of parents in the United States conducted in September 2022, besides time granted for homework and educational purposes, 38 percent of respondents reported allowing their children to use digital devices between one or two hours per day. In comparison, 30 percent of respondents reporting to allow their children between three and four hours of screen time per day, while eight percent of respondents reported allowing their children over six hours of daily screen time.

In 2023, children in the United States spent an average of 120 minutes per day on TikTok. Instagram ranked second, with young users engaging with the popular video messaging app for approximately 65 minutes per day. By comparison, children in the United States spent 20 minutes on average on Pinterest, while the Reddit mobile app only saw approximately 10 minutes of daily usage by children and teens in the country.

In 2023, children in the United Kingdom spent an average of 127 minutes per day on TikTok. This was followed by Instagram, as children in the UK reported using the app for an average of 40 minutes daily. Children in the UK aged between four and 18 years also used Facebook for 15 minutes a day on average in the measured period.

Mobile ownership and usage among UK children In 2021, around 60 percent of kids aged between eight and 11 years in the UK owned a smartphone, while children aged between five and seven having access to their own device were approximately 30 percent. Mobile phones were also the second most popular devices used to access the web by children aged between eight and 11 years, as tablet computers were still the most popular option for users aged between three and 11 years. Children were not immune to the popularity acquired by short video format content in 2020 and 2021, spending an average of 97 minutes per day engaging with TikTok, as well as over 50 minutes on the YouTube app in 2021.

Children data protection In 2021, 37 percent of U.S. parents and 44 percent of UK parents reported being slightly concerned with their children’s device usage habits. While the share of parents reporting to be very or extremely concerned was considerably smaller, children are considered among the most vulnerable digital audiences and need additional attention when it comes to data and privacy protection. According to a study conducted during the first quarter of 2022, 76 percent of children’s apps hosted in the Google Play Store and 67 percent of apps hosted in the Apple App Store transmitted users’ locations to advertisers.

Additionally, 42 percent of kids’ apps were found to collect persistent identifiers, such as users’ IP addresses, which could potentially lead to Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) violations in the United States. In the United Kingdom, companies have to take into account several obligations when considering online environments for children, including an age-appropriate design and avoiding sharing children’s data.

A survey conducted in 2022 revealed that a majority of children aged between 9 and 13 years old in urban India spent more than three hours per day on social media, videos, and games on the Internet, as reported by about 49 percent of parents. Contrariwise, parents who were unsure of how long their children spent on online media accounted for about 11 percent of respondents during the survey period.

How much time do people spend on social media? As of 2024, the average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 143 minutes per day, down from 151 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 three hours and 49 minutes on social media each day. In comparison, the daily time spent with social media in the U.S. was just two 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.

As of the third quarter of 2024, online users in Hong Kong stated that they spent an average of 5.5 hours every day on the internet, and an hour and 42 minutes on social media. The financial hub has about seven million internet users.

This statistic describes the average time spent online by individuals in Italy as of April 2020, by different age group and by device. According to data, the peak was recorded by individuals aged between 18 and 24 years browsing online with a their smartphones. Their time spent online amounted to over five hours a day.

According to a survey conducted in the United States in 2022, 63 percent of teenagers spent up to 15 minutes per day on social media app Snapchat, whilst one in ten spent between 15 and 30 minutes on the app. Overall, 15 percent of respondents spent one to two hours on Snapchat.

This graph shows the results of a survey on the daily media usage duration of children in Germany in 2022. During the survey period it was found that children aged between 12 and 13 years watched television for an average of 72 minutes a day.

According to a survey conducted in the United States in 2022, 22 percent of teenagers spent up to 15 minutes per day on social media app TikTok, whilst a further 22 percent reported to spend between two and three hours on the video-based app. Overall, eight percent of teens in the United States spent more than five hours on TikTok every day.

A survey conducted in Ireland in 2020 asked children and teenagers about their estimated daily online usage. Overall, the average time spent online per day of the weekend was 3.4 hours. For weekdays, the average time spent online was 2.1 hours.

According to a survey in September 2023, about 46 percent of urban parents reported that their children spent three to six hours each day using social media, OTT, and online games in India. Comparatively, 15 percent of Indian parents stated their kids spent more than six hours using online media every day.