YouTube tops social and online platforms for American teens

YouTube is the top social media platform for American teenagers. That’s the result from the latest Pew Research Center survey of teens and social media, which found YouTube besting services from Instagram to Reddit with 85% of U.S. teens using the platform. The video service was also the most used online platform for 32% of the respondents, only topped by 35% for Snapchat.

The survey also asked about smartphone ownership and use. Teens have near total ownership rates, with 95% reporting that they either own or have access to a smartphone. Nearly half (45%) said they are online almost constantly and 44% said they go online “several times a day.” In the 2014-2015 survey, just 24% said they were online almost all of the time.

When asked about the impact of social media on the lives of young people, a 45% share said the platforms’ effect had been neutral. Smaller percentages said the impact has been mostly positive (31%) or mostly negative (24%).