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Writer's pictureJoanne Jacobs

Teens spend 4.8 hours a day on social media, says Gallup

U.S. teenagers average 4.8 hours a day on social media apps such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), according to a Gallup survey. For 17-year-olds, the average is 5.8 hours.


"YouTube and TikTok are by far the most popular social media apps among teens," writes Jonathan Rothwell.


Girls spend more time on apps than boys, and teens who rate themselves as less conscientious also spend more time on social media.


Teens spend less time on social media if their parents restrict screen time, the survey found. Still, they average 3.7 hours on media compared to 5.5 hours for those whose parents set no restrictions.


Gallup also surveyed parents with children aged 3 to 19: One in four restrict screen time with very conservative parents much more likely (41 percent) to be restrictive compared to moderate, liberal or very liberal parents (23 percent).


A 2021 University of Michigan survey estimated 8th and 10th graders averaged 3½ hours daily on social media platforms, while 35 percent of teens aid they used social media “almost constantly” in a 2022 Pew Research survey.


Some link the youth mental health crisis to the rise in screen time, writes Matthew Stone on Education Week.

One 2019 study of 12- to 15-year-olds found that those who spent more than three hours daily on social media were twice as likely as peers who spent less time to report poor mental health, including symptoms of depression and anxiety. Another study of college-age students found improvements in their mental health when they limited social media use to 30 minutes a day or less.

"Another side effect of an increasingly online life is that young people are spending less time with friends in person," writes Stone. "The drop in time spent with friends over the past two decades has been particularly pronounced among 15- to 24-year-olds."


"Safer at home" turned out to be a mental-health (and academic) disaster.


Compulsive TikTokking could be "a symptom rather than a cause" of the surge in anxiety and depression, writes J.D. Tuccille on Reason. A newly published paper argues that "helicopter parenting" has caused a decline in mental health that leads to more social media use.


"Parents have reported that their children play independently outdoors far less than they themselves did as children and that they limit their children's freedom outdoors largely because of fears of crime and traffic," the authors write. Children are less likely to walk or bicycle to school.


Teenagers are less likely to hold after-school school jobs or have a driver's license. That gives them more time for TikTok and doomscrolling.

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9 Comments


Richard Rider
Richard Rider
Oct 24, 2023

Speaking for myself, I dodged a bullet -- being born prior to the electronic era. If, as a kid, I had faced the temptations of smart phones, gaming consoles and computers, my ability to read, write and calculate would be HALF or less of my current 78 year old capabilities.


In addition, I would have not been much of an athlete (I WAS one, eons ago). I would have competed on computers and consoles -- not on real world playing fields and basketball courts. Moreover, my knowledge of history and economics today would be nonexistent. And I would never have become a Commander in the Navy Supply Corps. I don't feel smug about my superior capabilities. It was just a fortunate accident of the…

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Guest
Oct 23, 2023

If the study had found "students spent an average of four hours per day talking with their friends" would we have the same conversation? Kids socialize. A lot. It's good for them.


True, they may have access to "harmful" content (as defined by the greater society), but so did we as kids a million years ago. A friend of mine had a hidden cache of Playboy magazines. Another had a huge collection of comic books. The public library had an awful lot of books that weren't "appropriate" for children. Were we harmed by all of this? Doesn't seem like it.


As long as they also spend time doing other sorts of learning, such as reading, then I don't see the…

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Guest
Oct 20, 2023

If these averages are calculated from self-reported numbers, they are likely delusionally low. Are they counting all the time they spend walking from point A to point B while scrolling through TikTok?

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Guest
Oct 19, 2023

Shouldn't they also check TV watching and compare to past generations? TikTok and Youtube could very well be taking the place of TV.


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Richard Rider
Richard Rider
Nov 02, 2023
Replying to

In the 1970's and 80's, it was really hard to carry a TV around everywhere you were. But if you DO do that, at least you'd be really buff!

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Guest
Oct 19, 2023

In Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland, students have a total of 7 hours and 40 minutes, every class day, to play with their cell phones ... in class....in the hallways....everywhere....all the time.


The school system even made it an official administrative procedure.


At no time may a teacher cause a student to be separated from the cell phone. The teacher is REQUIRED by the school system to let students play on their phones for the entirety of every class.


Miller Smith

Edited
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Guest
Oct 19, 2023
Replying to

One should provide a cite for the claim.

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