This is how Teens spend their online time in the US

USA: As per a new study, the 'why' and 'where' of Internet-use by teens in US is taking an interesting shape. Aided by the convenience and constant access provided by mobile devices, especially smartphones, 92 per cent of teens report going online daily — including 24 per cent who say they go online “almost constantly,” according to a new study from Pew Research Center.

More than half (56 per cent) of teens — defined in this report as those ages 13 to 17 — go online several times a day, and 12 per cent report once-a-day use. Just six per cent of teens report going online weekly, and two per cent go online less often.

Much of this frenzy of access is facilitated by mobile devices. Nearly three-quarters of teens have or have access to a smartphone and 30 per cent have a basic phone, while just 12 per cent of teens 13 to 17 say they have no cell phone of any type.

Facebook is the most popular and frequently used social media platform among teens; half of teens use Instagram, and nearly as many use Snapchat.

Teens are diversifying their social network site use. A majority of teens — 71 per cent — report using more than one social network site out of the seven platform options they were asked about.

Boys are more likely than girls to report that they visit Facebook most often (45 per cent of boys vs. 36 per cent of girls). Girls are more likely than boys to say they use Instagram (23 per cent of girls vs. 17 per cent of boys) and Tumblr (six per cent of girls compared with less than one per cent of boys).

Older teens ages 15 to 17 are more likely than younger teens to cite Facebook (44 per cent vs. 35 per cent of younger teens), Snapchat (13 per cent vs. eight per cent) and Twitter (eight per cent vs. three per cent) as a most often used platform, while younger teens ages 13 to 14 are more likely than their older compatriots to list Instagram (25 per cent vs. 17 per cent of older teens) as a platform they visit most often.

Facebook remains the most used social media site among American teens ages 13 to 17 with 71 per cent of all teens using the site, even as half of teens use Instagram and four-in-ten use Snapchat.

The survey data reveals a distinct pattern in social media use by socio-economic status. Teens from less well-off households (those earning less than $50,000) are more likely than others to say they use Facebook the most: 49 per cent of these teens say they use it most often, compared with 37 per cent of teens from somewhat wealthier families (those earning $50,000 or more).

Teens from more affluent households are somewhat more likely than those from the least affluent homes to say they visit Snapchat most often, with 14 per cent of those from families earning more than $75,000 saying Snapchat is their top site, compared with seven per cent of those whose families earn less than $30,000 annually. Twitter shows a similar pattern by income, with the wealthiest teens using Twitter more than their least well-to-do peers. It should be noted that some of these differences may be artifacts of differences in use of these sites by these different subgroups of teens.