With teen usage of social media in focus, as Australia enacts its under-16 social media ban, Pew Research has published its latest report on social media and AI usage among teens, based on a survey of more than 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17.

The data shows that YouTube remains the leading app among teens, with the vast majority of teens indicating that they use the app, followed by TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.

These are the primary platforms for teen social media engagement, with Facebook, WhatsApp, Reddit and X much further behind.

Which is not much of a revelation, if I had asked you which apps teens use, these would probably be the ones you’d identify without seeing this chart. Though it is interesting to note the precipitous drops for Facebook and Twitter/X over time, as both have eventually become more adult-populated platforms, pushing youngsters away.

So if you’re looking to reach teen audiences, these are the platforms that you should be focused on, with promotions that align with usage behaviors (and in particular, short-form video) in these apps.

Interestingly, the report also provides more in-depth insight into usage, with this chart showing which apps teens are logging into most often:

As you can see, YouTube and TikTok see the most ongoing usage, with 21% of teens using TikTok “almost constantly.”

TikTok’s smart algorithmic systems, which learn and adapt to your interests as you scroll, have drawn an increasing number of teen users in, as they look to stay up to date with the latest trends and content from their favorite creators.

The data underlines the significant role that TikTok now plays in modern U.S. teen culture, and in this context, it’s interesting to consider what could happen if TikTok eventually ends up being banned in the U.S., as a result of the lingering “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.”

That could happen soon, with no word from Chinese officials as to whether they might accept the American proposal for a divesture of TikTok as yet.

Pew’s data also shows that teen girls are more likely to use TikTok and IG than teen boys, while boys are more likely to visit YouTube.

I would assume that this reflects the popularity of gaming culture, and streamers like IShowSpeed, MrBeast, and more. These creators are not exclusively focused on gaming, but have emerged from that realm, and they continue to attract huge audiences of male fans.

Also interesting:

“Roughly two-thirds of teens (64%) say they ever use an AI chatbot. Fewer (36%) do not use this tool.”

So AI chatbot usage is rising among younger audiences, and considering that this cohort will grow up in a world where the latest generative AI tools have always been present, it’ll be interesting to see how this influences their approach to such moving forward, and what that means for broader web usage.

You can check out the full Pew Research teen report, which includes a heap more specific insights into teen usage, here.