Facebook has ‘fallen sharply’ in popularity among teens, Pew Research Centre study finds

The share of American teenagers between the ages of 13 to 17 who say they use Facebook has “fallen sharply” from 71 per cent in 2014-15 to 32 per cent in 2022, the Pew Research Centre reported on Wednesday based on surveys conducted during the two periods.

Tik Tok’s popularity has risen meteorically during this period, according to the Washington-based American think tank. Some 67 per cent of teen respondents in the latest survey said they use it, and 16 per cent of all teens saying they use the Chinese video hosting platform “almost constantly.”

Researchers say the latest analysis is based on a self-administered web survey conducted from 14 April to 4 May 2022 that included a sample of 1,316 pairs of individuals, each comprising one US teen, and one parent per teen.

A growing share of teens, according to the analysis, are using Instagram and Snapchat since the 2014-15 survey, with a declining number of respondents saying they were using Twitter and Tumblr.

YouTube topped the 2022 teen online landscape in the new survey with 95 per cent of the teen respondents reportedly using the platform.

Nearly three-quarters of teens in the survey said they visited YouTube at least daily, including 19 per cent who reported using the site or app “almost constantly.”

Tik Tok was next in line in the list, followed by Instagram and Snapchat, both reportedly used by about six-in-ten teens.

“Although today’s teens do not use Facebook as extensively as teens in previous years, the platform still enjoys widespread usage among adults,” the report added.

Other than Facebook, the report suggests Twitter has also seen a decrease in usage among American teens since 2014-15 with 23 per cent of teens now saying they ever use the microblogging platform, compared with a third of the respondents in the earlier survey.

The analysis also found demographic differences in social media choices among teens.

Citing an example, Pew reported that teen boys are more likely to say they use YouTube, Twitch and Reddit than teen girls, who were likelier to use TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.

A third of the respondents said they spend too much time on social media.

The survey also suggests that a majority of teens have access to digital devices like smartphones (95 per cent), and desktop or laptop computers (90 per cent) with an uptick in daily teen internet users from 92 per cent in 2014-15 to 97 per cent in 2022.