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According to a Pew Research Center Study, the majority of teenagers between 13 and 17 years old in the United States are constantly on digital platforms. One of the most interesting things about this study is that the most popular platform among the young population is not TikTok, but YouTube. Even though the percentage of teenagers using the site dropped from 95% to 90% from 2022 to 2024, the video platform with the red icon remains the most popular among the population studied.
The least popular are X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, and Facebook. This is certainly a worrying trend for Zuckerberg and Elon, as younger generations have little interest in these platforms.
The results across the different groups remain fairly close, although the researchers found that men prefer watching YouTube and women prefer watching TikTok.
This research also reveals that almost half of teenagers say they are online “almost all the time,” a significant difference from the results from a decade ago, when only 24% reported being constantly connected.
Of the population studied, 95% has access to a smartphone, 88% to a laptop or desktop computer, and 83% to a video game console.
All of this is at the heart of a debate taking place around the world about the negative effects of technology on our youth. Australia, for example, has decided to ban social media for children under 16, and we will have to wait a little longer to see the results.
Another study conducted by Pew Research Center, indicates that 41% of parents of teenagers think that technology, specifically social media, makes it harder to be young today.
And it is no wonder, I am sure we all have embarrassing memories of our teenage years, fortunately, our generation had the opportunity to make mistakes in private. It is no small thing to be exposed and ridiculed on the internet and in front of (literally) the whole world. Another serious issue is the way in which beauty standards affect young people's self-esteem, not only for women, it is also worrying to see "influencers" selling lifestyles and bodies without mentioning that they use steroids.
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