Story at a glance
- Although few teens felt social media had a negative impact on their personal lives, they were more likely to say it has negative effects on their age group as a whole.
- However, the majority of teens feel social media’s impact is neutral.
- The findings follow numerous reports on the negative impacts of social media on young Americans.
Despite a rash of studies and headlines pointing to the potential negative effects of social media on American teens, they themselves report a more positive view of the platforms, with a majority saying the sites provide a space for connection, creativity and support.
That’s according to new survey findings from Pew Research Center representing teens aged 13 to 17.
Eighty percent of teens said what they see on social media makes them feel more connected with what’s going on in their friends’ lives.
Over 70 percent said the sites make them feel as if they have a place to express themselves creatively, and 67 percent reported the platforms make them feel they have people who can support them through tough times. Authors added the positive sentiments were consistent across demographic groups.
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In addition, more teens said social media has a mostly positive impact on their lives (32 percent) than a mostly negative one (9 percent). However, the majority of teens say the platforms have a neutral effect on their lives.
Previous research from the center found YouTube was the most popular social platform among teens, followed by TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
Despite the beneficial effects reported, many teens acknowledged users’ penchant for drama. Nearly 40 percent of respondents said they’re overwhelmed by drama on the platforms, while around three in ten said the sites make them feel left out by their friends. Many also reported pressure to post content to get a lot of likes. Around one in five said the platforms make them feel worse about their lives.
Some of the negative effects were felt most acutely by teen girls, who tend to be more self-conscious in their adolescence than their male peers. Girls are also more likely to develop mood disorders than boys.
“Half of 15- to 17-year-old girls say they often or sometimes decide not to post something on social media because they worry others might use it to embarrass them, compared with smaller shares of younger girls or boys,” the Pew survey found.
Although a relatively low proportion of teens felt social media had negative effects on their own lives, that total grew when it came to the effects of the platforms on their age group as a whole.
Furthermore, a minority of teens say their parents are “highly concerned” about their use of the sites. Around 40 percent of respondents felt teens’ experiences on social media are better than parents’ perceptions while 27 percent say the experiences are worse.
The survey also found few teens engage in online activism on the platforms and are mostly unconcerned about their own digital privacy.
This month, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr called for a ban on the wildly popular TikTok app, citing concerns user data could be harvested by the Chinese government.
But for teens, who make up a large portion of the app’s massive user base, these concerns are not top-of-mind. Although 60 percent reported feeling they have little or no control over the personal information collected by social media companies, 44 percent say “they have little or no concern about how much these companies might know about them.”
A total of 1,316 teens completed the online survey between April 14 and May 4, 2022.
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