The biggest consumers of online content are teens. And we can’t blame them!

New dance crazes on TikTok and cute filters on Instagram are just too much of a waste not to try. 

In this resource, we give you the latest teenage use of social media statistics.

Tune in until the end to learn interesting facts about social networking usage across different geographic locations. 

Key Teenage Use of Social Media Statistics

  • 70% of teens say they use social media more than once a day
  • Only 1% of teens said they just tune in on social networks once a week
  • YouTube has the percentage of social media usage among teens. 95% of people belonging to this age group said they used YouTube at least once in their lives
  • 16% say they use TikTok almost constantly, while 15% said the same about Snapchat. Meanwhile, only 2% of teens said they ever use Facebook at this frequency 
  • 69.7% of Canadian students say they post on Snapchat at least once a day
  • 40% of teens say they use social media to connect with friends and family

How Many Teenagers Use Social Media?

How many teenagers use social media?

An estimated nine out of 10 teens globally have at least one social media account.

Come on, we are living in the digital age, this should not come as a surprise. 

Frequency of Teenage Social Media Use

But what is surprising is the significant increase in the frequency of social media usage among teens.

The latest study reveals 70% of teens now use these platforms more than once a day!

This is quite an improvement from the 34% result reported in 2015. 

Take a look at these statistics detailing the frequency of platform usage among teens in 2018.

  • More than once a day – 70% of teens said they use social media more than once a day
  • Once per day – only 3% answered they use social media just once per day
  • Several times a week – a small percentage of 4% answered they use social media platforms only several times a week
  • Once a week – only 1% said they use social media just once a week!

Top Social Media Platforms Usage 

Social Media

Some social media platforms enjoy popularity among the younger population more than others.

To address the elephant in the room, Facebook has lost its appeal among teens in the past years. 

The rise of more interactive and fun sites like TikTok and Snapchat is changing the landscape of social media usage across different ages.

Here is a look at the frequency of usage by teenagers of the top social media sites. 

Used the App at Least Once 

  • YouTube – 95% of teens say they used this platform at least once in their lives
  • TikTok – 67% of teens say they used this platform at least once in their lives
  • Instagram – 62% of teens say they used this platform at least once in their lives
  • Snapchat – 59% of teens say they used this platform at least once in their lives
  • Facebook – 32% of teens say they used this platform at least once in their lives

Frequently Uses the App

  • YouTube – 19% of teens use this platform almost constantly 
  • TikTok – 16% of teens use this platform almost constantly 
  • Instagram – 10% of teens use this platform almost constantly 
  • Snapchat – 15% of teens use this platform almost constantly 
  • Facebook – 2% of teens use this platform almost constantly 

As a piece of supplementary information, the research also reveals Facebook appeals to lower-income households more than others.

70% of US teens in households earning $30,000 or less use Facebook, higher than 36% of those coming from households earning $75,000 or more. 

Social Media Usage Among Canadian Students 

Social Media

Here is some data showing the percentage of Canadian students using top online platforms.

  • Facebook – 95.4% of Canadian students say they are active on this platform
  • YouTube – 77.0% of Canadian students say they are active on this platform
  • Instagram – 71.3% of Canadian students say they are active on this platform
  • Twitter – 69.0% of Canadian students say they are active on this platform
  • LinkedIn – 66.7% of Canadian students say they are active on this platform
  • Snapchat – 46.0% of Canadian students say they are active on this platform
  • Google+ – 33.3% of Canadian students say they are active on this platform
  • Tumblr – 26.4% of Canadian students say they are active on this platform

How Frequently Are Canadian Students Posting?

  • Facebook – 39.7% of Canadian students say they post on this site at least once a day
  • Instagram – 34.2% of Canadian students say they post on this site at least once a day
  • Twitter – 43.2% of Canadian students say they post on this site at least once a day
  • LinkedIn – 11.5% of Canadian students say they post on this site at least once a day
  • Snapchat – 69.7% of Canadian students say they post on this site at least once a day

Why Do Teens Use Social Media?

Here are some of the reasons why teens use social media nowadays. 

  • To connect with family and friends – 40% of survey participants point to this as the reason behind their social media usage
  • To find news and relevant information – 16% of survey participants point to this as the reason behind their social media usage
  • To meet others with the same interests – 15% of survey participants point to this as the reason behind their social media usage
  • To be entertained – 9% of survey participants point to this as the reason behind their social media usage
  • For self-expression – 7% of survey participants point to this as the reason behind their social media usage
  • To feel supported – 5% of survey participants point to this as the reason behind their social media usage
  • To learn new things – 4% of survey participants point to this as the reason behind their social media usage

Conclusion

There are varied reasons why teenagers use social media.

Some use these sites to be entertained, while others go for deeper meaning such as connecting with friends and family and getting external support for their passion. 

We hope you enjoyed reading this resource on teenage use of social media statistics! 

Sources

AACAPERICPew Research
Pew ResearchSmart SocialPBS