How Black and White Teens — and Boys and Girls — Differ on Social Media
Everyone knows that teens log lots of time on social media. But how do they use it, and why?
For those answers, Pew Research dug into the TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat habits of 1,458 teens between 13 and 17, parsing habits based on race and gender, asking about impacts on mental health, and checking in with parents about what they feared most about their teens’ social media habits.
Top reasons among all teens (9 out of 10) for using all of the platforms was pretty simple: for entertainment — something especially true for TikTok, with roughly 8 in 10 users saying that was the main reason they used it.
Next biggest reasons for using social media in general are keeping in touch with friends or family and connecting with others who have similar interests. Other reasons include using TikTok for product reviews and using both TikTok and Instagram to keep up with celebrities and politics. For Snapchat, the biggest motivation was direct messaging, 57% of whom do so daily.
How Usage Differs Based on Race & Ethnicity
In general, Black teens are more likely to use TikTok than white or Hispanic teens — and are also most likely (57%) to turn to TikTok for news as opposed to their white (41%) or Hispanic (44%) peers. They consistently stand out, in fact, for getting news from all three platforms.
Black teens on TikTok also use it more for product recommendations (71% vs. 59% Hispanic and 55% white), to keep up with athletes or celebrities (68% vs. 53% Hispanic and 51% white), and to connect with others (87% vs. 74% Hispanic and 72% white).
Also on TikTok, Black teens (31%) are more likely to post daily than white (16%) or Hispanic (17%) peers. White teens (66%), meanwhile, are more likely to message people on Snapchat daily than Black (37%) or Hispanic (52%) teens.
How Views of Usage Differ by Gender
Teen girls are more likely than boys to say they spend too much time on TikTok (33% vs. 23%); when it comes to Instagram and Snapchat, teen boys and girls are on par in their views of screen time.
Regarding harassment and bullying on the three platforms, majorities of both view it as a problem, with similar shares of both experiencing it themselves. But when it comes to rumors, teen girls are more likely to one has been spread about them on Snapchat or TikTok — 21% on Snapchat vs. 14% of boys, and 12% on TikTok vs. 7% of boys. Similar shares of both boys and girls say this has happened to them on Instagram.
How Parents Feel About Their Teen’s Social Media Use
Sleep and productivity are the main concerns of 1,458 parents when asked how social media affected the lives of their teens, with 41% believing it hurt their sleep habits (while 3% believe it helped and 29% thought it neither helped nor hurt). Almost as many (38%) thought it hurt productivity, while 10% thought it helped and 25% thought it did neither.
When it comes to the mental health of their teen, 24% thought social media was a negative influence — while 8% thought it was positive and 38% thought it didn’t have a positive or negative effect. Finally, regarding its effect on friendships, parents were more positive — with 22% saying it was helpful, 14% saying it was hurtful, and 36% saying it was neither.