Pew Research Report about Teens, Social Media, & Technology for 2018

​David Lee King recently posted about findings regarding teens' social technology habits:

Pew Research Center just released a report titled Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018. It’s full of interesting facts (as most Pew reports are). Check it out!

Here are some highlights from the report:

• Facebook is NOT the most popular social media channel for teens (but you already knew that, right?). Actually, it’s also not Instagram or Snapchat. Which leads me to my next bullet point…
• YouTube is the most popular social media channel for U.S. teens ages 13-17. It’s used by 85% of teens.
• Instagram and Snapchat are also more popular than Facebook. Again … you probably knew that, especially if you have teens in your life.​

• 95% of teens have a smartphone. Or access to one – what does that even mean? I’m picturing my kids texting their friends using my iPhone. Not gonna happen 
• 45% of teens are online on a near-constant basis.
• Girls favor Snapchat; boys favor YouTube.
• 88% have access to a computer at home. This varies by income and education levels.
• Gaming is still hot – 84% of teens game. 97% of boys and 83% of girls.

Implications for libraries?

• Reaching teens = using visual content. YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat are all highly visual social media tools.
• Video is your friend. The top four social media channels that teens use are FULL of videos. Which means that you should probably be making some targeted videos, or at least you should be experimenting with them.
• Figure out ephemeral content. Instagram Stories and Snapchat both use ephemeral content – content that disappears after 24 hours or so. I know – that’s weird! But it’s also what teens are using. So if you want to reach them … take the time to figure out how to use those tools.
• You still need to be on Facebook. Teens might not be there, but their parents are. 68% of US adults use Facebook.

Lots more interesting facts in the report – go read it!