A new nationally representative survey of American teenagers age 13-17 finds that teens have shifted their favored social media platforms and are now most likely to use Instagram and Snapchat. The study by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also found that while almost all teens–91 percent–use the regular text messaging tool on their mobile phones, 40 percent of teens also use messaging applications like Kik, WhatsApp, or Line on a smartphone.
Key survey findings include:
- 76 percent of American teens age 13-17 use Instagram.
- 75 percent of teens use Snapchat.
- 66 percent of teens use Facebook, essentially flat from 2015, when Pew Research Center data showed 71 percent of U.S. teens using the site.
- 47 percent of teens use Twitter.
- Fewer than 30 percent of American teens use Tumblr, Twitch, or LinkedIn.
The survey also found that black teens are more active on social media and messaging apps than their white peers. Historically, black teens report greater smartphone use than white teens, and are now more likely to use social media platforms optimized for mobile phones. Key findings from the survey on black teens include:
- 86 percent of black teens use Snapchat; 71 percent of white teens do so.
- 35 percent of black teens use Tumblr, compared with 22 percent of white teens.
- 40 percent of black teens say they use Snapchat almost constantly, and 33 percent say the same for Instagram. Just 22 percent of white teens say they use Snapchat that frequently; for Instagram, it is 19 percent.
- 18 percent of black teens use five or more messaging apps, such as Kik, WhatsApp, or Line, while 6 percent of white teens do so.
- Black teens are more likely than white teens to use Kik, Skype, or FaceTime daily.
The study also finds that tablet access surpasses use of desktop computers among American teens, with 54 percent of youth having access to a desktop, compared with 68 percent of teens having access to a tablet computer. Laptops (80 percent) and smartphones (89 percent) are the most common devices that teens use to access the internet.
"Understanding how teenagers use devices like tablets, desktops, and laptops may seem like old news," said Amanda Lenhart, senior research scientist at The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, and a co-author of the report. "But the varying degrees of access of different groups to these platforms have implications for education and future facility with tech tools, including those needed for the workplace."
###
About the Survey
This survey was conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and with funding from NORC at the University of Chicago. Interviews for this survey were conducted between December 7 and December 31, 2016, with teenagers age 13-17 representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Adult panel members were randomly drawn from AmeriSpeak, and after confirming that there were children of the appropriate age in the household, permission was sought from a parent or guardian to survey a teenager. If a given panelist had multiple teens at home, one teen was randomly selected to participate. Completed interviews were conducted with 790 teenagers, 739 via the web and 51 via telephone. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish, depending on respondent preference.
About The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taps into the power of social science research and the highest-quality journalism to bring key information to people across the nation and throughout the world. http://www.apnorc.org
The Associated Press (AP) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP. http://www.ap.org
NORC at the University of Chicago is an independent research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, NORC has conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with NORC to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge. http://www.norc.org
The two organizations have established The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research to conduct, analyze, and distribute social science research in the public interest on newsworthy topics, and to use the power of journalism to tell the stories that research reveals.
Contact: For more information, contact Eric Young for NORC at [email protected] or (703) 217-6814 (cell); Ray Boyer for NORC at [email protected] or (312) 330-6433; or Lauren Easton for AP at [email protected].
Media Contact
Eric Young
[email protected]
301-634-9536
@NORCNews
http://www.norc.org
############
Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag
