Are major social media platforms safe for teens? The answer to that question could have massive ramifications.
A recent court decision overrode previous precedents by holding social platforms liable for the mental and emotional harms that are informed by addictive feeds. Meanwhile, in regions like the European Union, the mental health of teenagers is being used to justify wide-ranging restrictions on social media usage.
Amid all that commotion, the Pew Research Center is asking a related question: What do the teens themselves think?
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Pew’s latest report focuses on TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. With those platforms in mind, Pew asked 1,458 teens (and their parents) about their social media usage habits. The 13-to-17-year-olds were asked to explain the reasons why they use certain platforms, detail the issues they encounter on their feeds, and evaluate their own relationships with social apps.
The good news, as far as Big Tech firms are concerned, is that teenagers still enjoy the time they spend on social media. Teens cited entertainment value as the most common reason why they use their favorite apps. A whopping 96% of TikTok users said that they are drawn to the For You Page “because it’s entertaining.”
Pew’s young respondents also largely felt that they are not overindulging in their shared entertainment source. For TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, the majority of teenage users claimed that the time they spend on those platforms is “about right.” And a similar majority claimed that those platforms don’t affect their self-esteem one way or the other.
At the same time, teens were more likely to say that they spend too much time on those apps rather than too little, and when their scrolling does affect their self-esteem, the effect is usually negative. Social media is certainly keeping teens up late, with 37% of TikTok users claiming that the app reduces the amount of sleep they get.
The parents surveyed by Pew were more likely to claim that social media negatively impacts their kids. 41% of the adults in the room, for example, said that TikTok hurts their child’s sleep schedule. Only 29% argued that the app neither helps nor hurt their child’s sleep.
The opinions held by parents seem to be driving legal and regulatory threats aimed at Big Tech firms, but the teens themselves don’t necessarily believe that social apps are harming their mental health. In fact, they were more likely to claim that their mental health improved as a result of their social media activity. And as far as interpersonal connections go, 44% of teenage Snapchat users said that their peer-to-peer activity on the app has improved their friendships.
So for the embattled consumer-facing companies in Silicon Valley, there is in fact a silver lining to be found. Embracing those positives, however, may require a shift in focus. Teens love the traditional community-building aspect of social media, but companies like YouTube and TikTok are avoiding the “social media” label as it becomes a more maligned descriptor. If those companies really want to embrace young users’ happiest feelings, they should admit that they are social media platforms, and that’s what causes their users to stick around.
