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 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.

In 2024, children in the United States spent an average of *** minutes per day on ******. ********* ranked second, with young users engaging with the popular video messaging app for approximately ** minutes per day. By comparison, children in the United States spent ** minutes on average on *********, while the ****** mobile app only saw approximately ***** minutes of daily usage by children and teens in the country.

In 2024, children in the United Kingdom spent an average of *** minutes per day on TikTok. This was followed by Instagram, as children in the UK reported using the app for an average of ** minutes daily. Children in the UK aged between four and 18 years also used Facebook for ** minutes a day on average in the measured period. Mobile ownership and usage among UK children In 2021, around ** 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 ** 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 ** minutes per day engaging with TikTok, as well as over ** minutes on the YouTube app in 2021. Children data protection In 2021, ** percent of U.S. parents and ** 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, ** percent of children’s apps hosted in the Google Play Store and ** percent of apps hosted in the Apple App Store transmitted users’ locations to advertisers. Additionally, ** 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.

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.

According to a survey conducted in June 2023, adults in the United States spent more time per day on TikTok than on any other leading social media platform. Overall, respondents reported spending an average of 53.8 minutes per day on the social video app. YouTube and Twitter ranked second and third, each with an average of 48 minutes and 34 minutes spent on the platforms per day, respectively.

U.S. teens have time for certain platforms

Different social media platforms attract different demographics, with teenagers in the United States being more drawn to TikTok and YouTube over Facebook. In 2023, teenagers in the United States spent an average of almost two hours on YouTube and 1.5 hours on TikTok every day, 1451257 while Facebook was used by teens for less than half an hour per day. Furthermore, social media habits differ between genders, as teen girls were more likely to spend more time than boys on Instagram.

TikTok is king for teens and Gen Z

Although spending 1.5 hours on the Generation Z app of choice may sound rather modest, some TikTok users devote much more of their time to the platform . According to a survey conducted in the United States in 2022, around eight percent of teenagers in the United States spent over five hours a day on TikTok. 1417187 whereas another 22 percent reported spending between two and three hours daily on the video-based app.

A survey conducted in 2022 revealed that a majority of children aged between 13 and 17 years old in urban India spent more than one hour per day on social media, videos, and games on the Internet, as reported by about ** percent of parents. Contrariwise, parents who reported that their teenagers hardly spent any time on online media accounted for a mere **** percent of respondents during the survey period.

According to a survey conducted in the United States in 2022, ** percent of teenagers spent up to ** minutes per day on social media app Instagram, whilst around one in ten spent between ** and ** minutes on the app. Overall, ** percent of teens in the United States spent *** to ***** hours on Instagram.

As of the third quarter of 2024, internet users in the Philippines spent an average of **** hours accessing the internet on various devices, according to a global survey. In terms of devices, most Filipinos have used their mobile phones to surf the web. Internet usage of Filipinos Being the population with the most time spent using the internet in the region, Filipino internet users have been taking advantage of the ease of communication and access to information and entertainment that the internet offers. Aside from just browsing the web, accessing social media has been popular among a large share of the Filipino population. As of the third quarter of 2023, Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, along with TikTok, were the most used social media platforms in the country. These platforms were used to connect with friends and family, and to access news and information, stream video content, and find products and services to purchase. Level of internet security in the Philippines Since most activities have been digitalized, cybersecurity threats and online fraud have been a growing concern among internet users. In the Philippines, over ** million web threats have been detected in 2022. Among those who shop on social media, product fraud was identified as the most common fraud type, along with non-delivery of products or services and payment fraud. To address this, the national government amended its cybersecurity laws to ensure better security of internet users in the Philippines.

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

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

This statistic shows the number of indexations due to violations against the Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors against Harmful Media (JMStV) in Germany from 2004 to 2023. In 2023, around 584 indexations due to such violations were recorded.