As a U.S. ban on TikTok looks increasingly likely, a new Pew Research report on teen social media use highlights the app’s influence among its youngest users. The Pew Research Center reports that TikTok is not only one of the most commonly used social media services among teenagers, but 57% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 browse TikTok every day.
The report highlights the impact of the ban on young people. 63% of teens said they have “ever” used the app, and 57% said they log in at least once a day. Teenagers also had the highest proportion of teens who said they use the service “almost all the time” at 16%. More than a third reported checking the app “multiple times a day.”
Pew data on teen social media use.
The Pew report comes as TikTok has run out of options to avoid a U.S. ban. The company lost its initials under a law requiring its parent company ByteDance to sell the app or face a total ban in the country. TikTok has asked the court for an effective date for the law, which is currently scheduled to take effect on January 19, while it hopes to make its next appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Pew Research Center report suggests that YouTube and Instagram are most likely to benefit if a ban does go ahead. YouTube is once again the most used app among teens, with 90% of 13- to 17-year-olds saying they use the service and 73% saying they use it daily. Meta’s Instagram is another possible successor, with the app ranking just below TikTok among 61% of teens, although only half of teens said they check the app every day.
