Pew Research published a new report on how U.S. teens use social media apps and the benefits teens say they get from that usage.
The report is based on survey responses from 1,458 U.S. teens aged 13 to 17, along with one parent per teen. It provides fresh perspective on the use of three key social media apps: Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram.
The data shows that teens go to TikTok for entertainment, but stay connected with friends on Snapchat.
Which is no real surprise. TikTok provides a never-ending stream of short-form video clips and is highly attuned to user interests. Meanwhile, Snapchat has long promoted itself as the place to connect with friends due to the ephemeral nature of its content.
Screenshots happen, of course, and Snapchat conversations are not a black box of privacy. However, the fact that Snapchat messages are generally kept private seems more accepted within teen circles, and Snap hasn’t yet been inundated with adults or relatives who comment on updates.
But potentially more interesting for marketers here is the fifth data point in the chart above, which shows that TikTok is the preferred app for teens to get information about products.
If teens are going to TikTok specifically to find product info, that could be an important consideration in marketing approaches and may mean teens there are more open to brand pitches.
Pew’s report also looked at messaging behaviors and posting activity, with teen users far more likely to post on Snap:
That, again, underlines the increased comfort and connection teens feel on Snapchat, as opposed to posting publicly in other apps.
This has been a broader social media trend over the past few years, with fewer people posting publicly and more conversations now being conducted in smaller, private groups. Public posting was once a key allure of social media apps, giving everybody a chance to share their perspective with the world. But over time, that has shrunk down to a smaller number of broadcasters, many of whom seemingly post purely for the dopamine rush they get from engagement.
In terms of social media impacts, which have become a much bigger focus of late amid ongoing discussion of teenage social media bans, teen users said that TikTok impacts their sleep patterns and productivity more than Snapchat or Instagram.
The compulsive nature of TikTok’s feed keeps users scrolling, even when they should be doing other things. Ironically, it’s that very magnetism — that algorithmic secret sauce — that made the app such a tempting prospect for U.S. investors amid recent sell-off discussions.
Does that mean that TikTok should be banned?
Well, presumably, if TikTok were removed, teens would switch to Snapchat or IG instead, and one of those would then become the most distracting app. It’s worth also noting, as shown in the above chart, that teens also said all three of these apps have helped improve their mental health and friendships, with significant benefits for the latter element.
That means that when weighing the impacts of a teen social media ban, it’s important to consider social media’s benefits as well, in order to understand how modern teens interact with each other and the world, and how limiting that interaction could be a negative.
Still, it’s not a surprise that parents of teens still view social media apps as largely harmful.
The responses from parents show that while they acknowledge the connective benefits of social media, they mostly view social apps as harmful. And considering these adults are among the most active voting demographics in elections, it’s not surprising to see governments working to address their concerns, as opposed to connecting with teens directly.
