Despite ban threats, TikTok has never been more popular among U.S. teens

TikTok‘s regulatory status may be in jeopardy, but its status as a teen cultural touchstone is not in doubt. The Spring 2025 edition of Piper Sandler‘s Taking Stock With Teens report found that TikTok is still the most common response Gen Z Americans give when asked, “what’s your favorite social media platform?”

Piper Sandler (formerly known as Piper Jaffray) has been conducting biannual surveys of American teenagers ever since Millennials, not Gen Z, were the teens in question. Over the years, the preferences of the surveyed youths have shifted, but U.S. under-20s have shown a general preference for mobile-first social apps like Snapchat.

In recent years, that preference has turned TikTok into the most common “favorite social platform” in the Taking Stock With Teens report. In the Spring 2025 edition of Piper Sandler’s research, the TikTok love shone even brighter: 47% of respondents dubbed TikTok their favorite social platform. That percentage is up 12% year-over-year.

It’s worth noting that Piper Sandler doesn’t include YouTube in its survey of social media preferences, preferring to characterize the Google-affiliated platform as a streaming hub. Within that category, YouTube and Netflix tend to take turns as the top destination listed in the Taking Stock With Teens report. In the Spring 2025 publication, it’s Netflix’s turn to lead. The surveyed teens indicated that 31% of their video consumption

comes on Netflix, compared to 26% for YouTube.

Even if TikTok isn’t competing against YouTube in this particular arena, its saturation among American Gen Z consumers is notable. It’s a sign that vertical video aficionados in the U.S. aren’t pressed about a potential ban, even though Congress has aggressively targeted TikTok with a sweeping law passed last year.

Depending on who you ask, TikTok’s popularity among American teens may be the reason why it has been targeted for a divestiture or ban. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, one of the original authors of the law that looks to rein in TikTok, argued that the statute was dead in the water until TikTok started radicalizing young people on topics like Palestine.

Congress may be able to limit TikTok’s operations (especially if the Trump Administration fails to get a divestiture deal done), but regulators can’t stop the app from receiving enthusiastic support from Gen Z. To learn more about the proclivities of American teenagers, check out this infographic provided by Piper Sandler.