As moves for social-media bans for under-16s increase around the world, the US-based Pew Research Center has published an interesting new study on how and why teenagers use three key platforms: TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
It interviewed 1,485 pairs of teenagers (defined here as 13-17 year-olds) for the study. It found that entertainment is the biggest reason they use these apps, followed by keeping in touch with friends and family, and connecting with other people who share their interests.
No surprises there. There is also data on posting activity, with Snapchat tops for this metric. 17% of its teenage users post several times a day, compared to 12% for TikTok and 8% for Instagram.
TikTok won’t enjoy the finding that 37% of its teenage users say it hurts the amount of sleep they get – more than the 26% for Snapchat and 24% for Instagram. However across all three apps the consensus was that they “neither hurts nor helps their mental health”.
“All told, teens tend to have a mostly positive experience on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. About seven-in-ten teens on each platform say this,” noted Pew. “Very few – just 3% on each – say it’s mostly negative. The rest say it’s about an equal mix of positive and negative.”
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