40% of US teens now say they are online almost constantly, the first drop Pew has recorded on that measure in a decade, down from 46% a year earlier. The retreat is narrow rather than broad: 97% still use the internet daily, TikTok’s almost-constant use rate of 21% now edges out YouTube’s 20%, and 64% of teens have used an AI chatbot with about 30% using one every day. Teens are also markedly more pessimistic about social media’s effect on their peers than on themselves, with 48% calling it mostly negative for people their age against 3% who describe their own experience that way. The figures below come from Pew Research Center’s 2025 and 2026 teen surveys and Common Sense Media’s 2026 AI census.
TL;DR
- Roughly 90% of US teens use YouTube, the highest of any platform (Pew Research Center, 2025)
- TikTok reaches 63% of teens, Instagram 61%, and Snapchat 55% (Pew Research Center, 2025)
- Facebook has fallen to 31% of teens and WhatsApp sits at 24% (Pew Research Center, 2025)
- 40% of teens are online almost constantly, down from 46% in 2024 (Pew Research Center)
- 97% of teens use the internet daily (Pew Research Center, 2025)
- TikTok leads almost-constant use at 21%, ahead of YouTube at 20% (Pew Research Center, 2025)
- Instagram use jumps from 44% of 13 to 14 year olds to 75% of 15 to 17 year olds (Pew Research Center, 2025)
- 48% of teens say social media is mostly negative for people their age, up from 32% in 2022 (Pew Research Center)
- About seven-in-ten users call their own experience on each major platform mostly positive (Pew Research Center, 2026)
- Roughly three-in-ten Snapchat users report experiencing harassment there (Pew Research Center, 2026)
- 28% of teens say they overuse TikTok, against 44% of parents who say their teen does (Pew Research Center, 2026)
- 64% of teens have used an AI chatbot, about 30% daily (Pew Research Center, 2025)
- 86% of children aged 9 to 17 use AI in some form (Common Sense Media, 2026)
1. Which Platforms Teens Actually Use
The ranking has been stable for three years, which is itself the finding. YouTube reaches roughly 90% of teens, with TikTok at 63%, Instagram at 61%, and Snapchat at 55%, and no challenger has displaced any of them. The movement is at the bottom: Facebook now reaches 31% of teens, less than half its 71% share a decade ago, and X sits at 16% despite dominating adult political conversation.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Teens using YouTube | approx. 90% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Teens using TikTok | 63% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Teens using Instagram | 61% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Teens using Snapchat | 55% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Teens using Facebook | 31% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Teens using WhatsApp | 24% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Teens using Reddit | approx. 18% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Teens using X | 16% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Survey sample | 1,458 US teens aged 13 to 17 | Pew Research Center |
| Field dates | September 25 to October 9, 2025 | Pew Research Center |
| Margin of error | plus or minus 3.3 points | Pew Research Center |
Facebook’s teen collapse is the single largest platform shift Pew has tracked, and it happened without the app losing adults, where it still reaches 71%. Adult context sits in our Facebook statistics. Source: Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025.
2. Frequency Is Where the Story Changed
Reach numbers barely moved, but intensity did. 40% of teens report being online almost constantly, down from 46% the previous year and the first decline Pew has measured on this question since it started asking. Whether that is a genuine behavioural shift or a reporting artefact from a year of intense public discussion about phones is unresolved, and Pew does not claim to know.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Online almost constantly, 2025 | 40% | Pew Research Center |
| Online almost constantly, 2024 | 46% | Pew Research Center |
| Online almost constantly, 2014 to 2015 | 24% | Pew Research Center |
| Teens using the internet daily | 97% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Almost-constant TikTok use | 21% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Almost-constant YouTube use | 20% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Almost-constant Instagram use | 12% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Almost-constant Snapchat use | 12% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Almost-constant Facebook use | 3% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Daily YouTube use | approx. 75% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Daily TikTok use | 61% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Daily Snapchat use | 46% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
TikTok overtaking YouTube on almost-constant use while trailing it by nearly 30 points on reach is the clearest evidence that the two apps occupy different behavioural slots. Broader context sits in our short-form video statistics. Source: Pew Research Center teens and social media fact sheet.
3. The Demographic Splits
Aggregate teen numbers hide splits large enough to invert conclusions. Instagram use nearly doubles between the younger and older half of the teen bracket, from 44% of 13 and 14 year olds to 75% of 15 to 17 year olds, which means any statement about “teen Instagram use” is really a statement about high schoolers. Gender divides are narrower but consistent, with Reddit close to twice as common among boys.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram, ages 13 to 14 | 44% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Instagram, ages 15 to 17 | 75% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Snapchat among girls | 61% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Reddit among boys | 21% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Reddit among girls | 12% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| YouTube among boys | 94% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| YouTube among girls | 89% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Chatbot use, ages 13 to 14 | 57% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Chatbot use, ages 15 to 17 | 68% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| ChatGPT use, household income under USD 30,000 | 52% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| ChatGPT use, household income USD 75,000+ | 62% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
The 10-point ChatGPT gap by household income is worth watching, because it is the kind of access divide that compounds rather than closes. Source: Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025.
4. Inside the Big Three
Pew’s April 2026 report asked teens what they actually do on TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat rather than whether they use them. Entertainment is the near-universal answer, cited by roughly nine-in-ten or more across all three, but Snapchat is the outlier on communication with about two-thirds naming keeping in touch as a major reason. Snapchat is also the only one of the three where daily messaging is majority behaviour, at 57%.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cite entertainment as a major reason, all three platforms | approx. 90%+ | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Cite entertainment on TikTok specifically | approx. 80% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Cite keeping in touch on Snapchat | approx. two-thirds | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Message daily on Snapchat | 57% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Post daily on Snapchat | approx. 30% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Post several times daily on Snapchat | 17% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Post daily on TikTok or Instagram | approx. 20% or fewer | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Use TikTok for product reviews | approx. 60% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Get news on TikTok or Instagram | approx. 40% or more | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Get news on Snapchat | approx. 25% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Follow celebrities or athletes on Snapchat | 37% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
The consumption-to-posting ratio is the number most often missed: on TikTok and Instagram, only around one-in-five teens post daily, so the visible teen internet is produced by a small minority of them. Source: Pew Research Center, Teens’ Experiences on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
5. Harm, Harassment, and the Parent Gap
Teens draw a sharp line between what social media does to them and what it does to everyone else. 48% say social media is mostly negative for people their age, up from 32% in 2022, while only 3% describe their own experience on each major platform as mostly negative. That 45-point gap between self and peer assessment is one of the most consistent findings in the literature and complicates any survey-based measure of harm.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Say social media is mostly negative for peers | 48% | Pew Research Center |
| Same figure in 2022 | 32% | Pew Research Center |
| Describe own platform experience as mostly positive | approx. 70% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Describe own platform experience as mostly negative | 3% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| See harassment as a problem on the platform they use | approx. 75% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Experienced harassment on Snapchat | approx. 30% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Experienced harassment on TikTok or Instagram | approx. 20% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Say TikTok costs them sleep | approx. 40% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Say Instagram or Snapchat costs them sleep | approx. 25% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Say Snapchat helps their friendships | 44% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Teens saying they overuse TikTok | 28% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Parents saying their teen overuses TikTok | 44% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
Sleep is the harm teens most readily concede, and it is also the one with the least ambiguous evidence base. Related device data sits in our children’s screen time statistics. Source: Pew Research Center, Teens’ Experiences on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
6. AI Chatbots Arrived Faster Than Social Media Did
Chatbot adoption among teens reached in roughly three years what social platforms took a decade to build. 64% of teens have used an AI chatbot and about 30% use one daily, with ChatGPT at 59% far ahead of Gemini at 23% and Meta AI at 20%. Common Sense Media’s separate census puts overall AI use among 9 to 17 year olds at 86% and finds more than 70% have used an AI companion specifically.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Teens who have used an AI chatbot | 64% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Use a chatbot daily | approx. 30% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Use a chatbot several times daily or almost constantly | 16% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| ChatGPT use among teens | 59% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Gemini use among teens | 23% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Meta AI use among teens | 20% | Pew Research Center, 2025 |
| Children aged 9 to 17 using AI | 86% | Common Sense Media, 2026 |
| Teens who have used an AI companion | over 70% | Common Sense Media, 2026 |
| Used AI for health or body advice | over half of AI users | Common Sense Media, 2026 |
| Used AI to discuss feelings or personal problems | over one-third of AI users | Common Sense Media, 2026 |
| Say no adult has discussed AI safety with them | over 40% | Common Sense Media, 2026 |
| Common Sense census sample | 1,204 children aged 9 to 17 | Common Sense Media, 2026 |
The two surveys use different age ranges and question wording, which is why 64% and 86% are not contradictory: Pew asks teens about chatbots, Common Sense asks 9 to 17 year olds about AI broadly. Sources: Common Sense Media 2026 AI census and its AI companion findings.
Summary: Teen Social Media by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Teens using YouTube | approx. 90% | Pew Research Center |
| Teens using TikTok | 63% | Pew Research Center |
| Teens using Instagram | 61% | Pew Research Center |
| Teens using Snapchat | 55% | Pew Research Center |
| Teens using Facebook | 31% | Pew Research Center |
| Teens using X | 16% | Pew Research Center |
| Online almost constantly, 2025 | 40% | Pew Research Center |
| Online almost constantly, 2024 | 46% | Pew Research Center |
| Teens using the internet daily | 97% | Pew Research Center |
| Almost-constant TikTok use | 21% | Pew Research Center |
| Daily TikTok use | 61% | Pew Research Center |
| Instagram, ages 13 to 14 versus 15 to 17 | 44% versus 75% | Pew Research Center |
| Reddit, boys versus girls | 21% versus 12% | Pew Research Center |
| Say social media is mostly negative for peers | 48% | Pew Research Center |
| Own experience mostly positive | approx. 70% | Pew Research Center |
| Own experience mostly negative | 3% | Pew Research Center |
| Experienced harassment on Snapchat | approx. 30% | Pew Research Center |
| Message daily on Snapchat | 57% | Pew Research Center |
| Teens versus parents on TikTok overuse | 28% versus 44% | Pew Research Center |
| Teens who have used an AI chatbot | 64% | Pew Research Center |
| ChatGPT use among teens | 59% | Pew Research Center |
| Children aged 9 to 17 using AI | 86% | Common Sense Media |
Methodology and Sources
- Platform usage, frequency, demographic splits, and chatbot adoption come from Pew Research Center’s report Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025, published December 9, 2025 and based on an online survey of 1,458 US teens aged 13 to 17 fielded September 25 to October 9, 2025 through the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points (Pew Research Center).
- Platform-level experience data, posting and messaging frequency, harassment, sleep, and the parent comparison come from Pew’s follow-on report published April 15, 2026 (Pew Research Center).
- Trend lines and demographic tables come from Pew’s standing fact sheets (teens and social media, teens and internet and device access) and its summary of teen findings (10 facts about teens and social media). Prior-year comparisons use the 2024 edition (Pew Research Center).
- Broader AI adoption among children comes from The Common Sense Media Census: AI Use by Tweens and Teens 2026, a survey of 1,204 children aged 9 to 17 (Common Sense Media, full report PDF).
- Data watch: figures marked “approx.” are read from Pew’s published charts or reported as fractions such as “roughly three-in-ten” in the source text rather than stated as exact percentages. The drop in almost-constant internet use from 46% to 40% is a single-year movement on a self-reported measure and should not yet be treated as an established trend. Pew’s peer-versus-self gap on perceived harm is a well-documented survey artefact in both directions and does not by itself establish that social media is or is not harming teens. Pew and Common Sense use different age ranges, question wording, and panels, so their AI figures are not directly comparable. All data covers the United States only.
- Last updated: August 1, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next major refresh is expected when Pew publishes its next annual teens and technology survey.