Social media can be good and bad. Social media is bad for kids and adults because there is a study that kids are on social media 2 1⁄2 hours everyday. And Social media can destroy your everyday lives. For high schoolers social media is constant. It’s not uncommon seeing people scroll on their phones in the hallway, lunchroom, or waiting for the bus. In the last 5 years just the amount of social media usage has increased.
In an article from Brown University of Health from 2019, entitled “Why social media is bad to Kids and Adults,” researchers found that in the short lifetime of social media, it has grown a lot. “Back in 2005, when social media was still in its infancy, only 5 percent of users in the United States were involved in social media. In 2019, that number grew to about 70 percent.” That was the same year that Pew Research Center surveyed social media usage and popularity among US adults. They discovered that adults preferred YouTube and Facebook when it came to social media, while teens preferred Snapchat and Instagram. They also discovered that TikTok was the fastest-growing social network, especially among the younger generation.
In January 2024, Pew released newer statistics that showed that adults are still using Youtube and Facebook the most, but that they also have started using Instagram more as well. About 80% of US adults go on YouTube, while 68% are reported to have Facebook. According to Pew, 48% of adults say they use Instagram now too.
That’s just adults. But what about us? What about teenagers? The most recent Pew Research Center study about teenage social media usage is from 2023. Many kids who are 13-17 years old say they use Tiktok, Snapchat, and Instagram more than using Facebook or Twitter. YouTube has the highest percent among 13-17 year olds, with 93%, while TikTok,Instagram, and Snapchat usage is only 63%, 60%, and 59% respectively.
According to the Pew study, “Social media use is nearly universal among today’s teens. PRC reports 97 percent of 13-17 year olds use at least one of seven major online platforms. The amount of time spent on social sites is astounding. One report indicates the average teen aged 13 to 18 spends about nine hours on social media a day each day; tweens ages 8 to 12 are on for about six hours a day.”
Teenage usage is high. But what happens when you look at the breakdown according to gender? The most recent Pew Research center study about gender using social media is from 2023. In it they found that more teen girls than teen boys say they use TikTok by 22% vs 12% and then Snapchat by 17% vs 12%. But there is little difference between girls and boys using social media overall.
Now what about how much time teens spend online? Well according to Pew Research Center nearly the older generation say they use social media almost constantly and this is what they found last year but they say they roughly double by 24% compared to their 2014-2015 survey. But overall the younger generation say they use online social media least daily.
This about what teens use the most on devices but what about race and what color use the most of social media? Well according to Pew Research center recent study it shows that 55% of hispanic and 54% of black teens say that they are on the internet almost constantly. But the share has dropped to 38% among white teens, but eight in ten black teens report of using Tik tok compare to hispanic teens by 70% and among white teens by 57%,
Social media has a lot of influence in our world today. This is why it is important that we pay attention to these statistics. You see a lot of people on social media comparing their lives to other people’s lives, and you see a lot of people passing away because of bullying on social media. It affects the emotions of people in the way they think about life and the way it affects who they are as a person.
