SAN FRANCISCO — Social networks are pervasive in the lives of teenagers, and TikTok seems to be the one they prefer. According to a study by Piper Sandler, nearly 40 per cent of young people rank it as their favourite social platform, even though they use Instagram more.
TikTok remains the preferred social network for American teenagers, according to a new semi-annual survey by Piper Sandler based on a poll of 13,500 young people with an average age of 15.8.
Nearly two in five teenagers (39%) named the Chinese platform as their favourite social network, ahead of Instagram (32%) and Snapchat (18%), AFP reported.
Despite this, the Meta group’s platform takes first place in terms of usage, with 87% of teens surveyed using Instagram every month, compared to 80% in the previous survey, carried out in fall 2023.
TikTok is used monthly by 79% of American teens, an increase of five points in one year. Separate research has previously highlighted Instagram’s effectiveness in showcasing certain types of content, particularly in the beauty sector.
Although in third place, Snapchat seems to be losing popularity. Seventy-one percent of teenagers report using it every month, compared to 74% in fall 2023. Next come Pinterest (41%), X and Facebook (30% each).
According to the report, 30% of American teens use the Netflix streaming platform to watch videos daily, ahead of YouTube (27%).
Nearly half of American teens have played Roblox (46% in fall 2024), compared to just one-third (34%) last spring.
The popularity of Roblox is also on the rise, with only 17% of teenagers saying they had never played the game, down from 22% in the spring.
Piper Sandler also points out that 87% of the young people surveyed own an iPhone, and that 22% of them are expected to upgrade to the iPhone 16 by this fall or winter.
These trends show that teenagers’ preferences are evolving rapidly, and that platforms must constantly innovate to stay relevant.
TikTok, with its short, snappy content, seems to have found the perfect formula to captivate young users.
The ByteDance platform has even decided to enter into YouTube’s arena by offering users the possibility of posting 60-minute videos.
As for YouTube, the American streaming giant is echoing its rivals by looking to include shorter-form content.
