TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat each occupy a different functional role in teenagers’ daily lives, according to a new Pew Research Center study that surveyed 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 and their parents between September 25 and October 9, 2025. Rather than functioning as interchangeable social media destinations, each platform attracts teens for meaningfully different reasons.
TikTok Serves as an Entertainment and Discovery Engine
Teen TikTok users go to the platform primarily to be entertained and informed. Roughly 96% cite entertainment as a reason they use the app, with 82% calling it a major reason, the highest share of any platform in the study. Beyond passive consumption, TikTok also leads the three platforms on product discovery: approximately 58% of teen TikTok users say they go there for product reviews or recommendations, compared with 48% on Instagram and 32% on Snapchat.
News consumption follows a similar pattern. About 45% of teen TikTok users cite news as a reason they visit the platform, versus roughly 39% on Instagram and 26% on Snapchat. Keeping up with athletes and celebrities also skews toward TikTok and Instagram, with majorities of teen users on both platforms citing it as a reason they engage, compared with 37% on Snapchat.
The discovery function is especially pronounced among Black teen TikTok users, who report going to the platform for product reviews (71%), celebrity and athlete updates (68%), and news (57%) at higher rates than their Hispanic and White peers.
Snapchat Functions as a Peer Communication Tool
Where TikTok draws teens toward content, Snapchat draws them toward each other. Roughly two-thirds of teen Snapchat users say keeping up with friends and family is a major reason they use the platform, a higher share than on either TikTok or Instagram. That orientation reflects directly in usage behavior: 57% of teen Snapchat users report messaging others daily, including 41% who do so several times a day. Comparable daily messaging rates on Instagram and TikTok reach 34% and 24%, respectively.
Snapchat also registers the highest share of teens who say the platform helps their friendships, with 44% reporting a positive impact in that area. On entertainment, news, product discovery, and celebrity content, Snapchat trails the other two platforms across the board.
Instagram Occupies a Middle Position
Instagram performs competitively across multiple use cases without leading any of them. Approximately 91% of teen Instagram users cite entertainment as a reason they use it. About 84% say they go there to keep up with friends and family, and 78% say they use it to connect with others who share their interests. Instagram also posts comparable figures to TikTok on celebrity and athlete content, with a majority of teen users citing it as a reason for their engagement.
On product discovery, Instagram lands between TikTok and Snapchat at 48%. Its daily direct messaging rate of 34% sits above TikTok’s 24% but remains well below Snapchat’s 57%. The platform’s cross-category performance positions it as a general-purpose destination, without the sharply defined functional identity that characterizes the other two.
Parental Attitudes Diverge by Platform
Parent perceptions reinforce the functional distinctions teens describe, particularly around TikTok. Among parents of teen TikTok users, 44% say their child spends too much time on the app, compared with 28% of teens who say the same about themselves. That 16-percentage-point gap is the largest in the study and does not narrow significantly for Instagram or Snapchat, though parental concern is highest for TikTok across all measures.
Among parents whose teen does not currently use TikTok, 73% say they would be uncomfortable if their teen did. That figure drops for Snapchat and falls further for Instagram, where parents of non-users express the least resistance. Among parents of active teen Instagram users, 59% say they are comfortable with their teen on the platform, the highest comfort level of the three apps.
Despite the variation in how teens use these platforms and how parents assess them, roughly seven-in-ten teen users on each platform describe their overall experience as mostly positive. Across TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, just 3% of users on each say their experience is mostly negative. The majority on each platform also say the apps neither hurt nor help their mental health, though TikTok users report the highest rates of impact on sleep and productivity of the three.
Image source: Pew Research Center The full report is available here
Jonathan is a South African content creator, photographer and videographer with 25 years of experience in journalism and print media design. He is interested in new developments in AI content creation and covers a broad spectrum of topics within the creator economy.
TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat each occupy a different functional role in teenagers’ daily lives, according to a new Pew Research Center study that surveyed 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 and their parents between September 25 and October 9, 2025. Rather than functioning as interchangeable social media destinations, each platform attracts teens for meaningfully different reasons.
TikTok Serves as an Entertainment and Discovery Engine
Teen TikTok users go to the platform primarily to be entertained and informed. Roughly 96% cite entertainment as a reason they use the app, with 82% calling it a major reason, the highest share of any platform in the study. Beyond passive consumption, TikTok also leads the three platforms on product discovery: approximately 58% of teen TikTok users say they go there for product reviews or recommendations, compared with 48% on Instagram and 32% on Snapchat.
News consumption follows a similar pattern. About 45% of teen TikTok users cite news as a reason they visit the platform, versus roughly 39% on Instagram and 26% on Snapchat. Keeping up with athletes and celebrities also skews toward TikTok and Instagram, with majorities of teen users on both platforms citing it as a reason they engage, compared with 37% on Snapchat.
The discovery function is especially pronounced among Black teen TikTok users, who report going to the platform for product reviews (71%), celebrity and athlete updates (68%), and news (57%) at higher rates than their Hispanic and White peers.
Snapchat Functions as a Peer Communication Tool
Where TikTok draws teens toward content, Snapchat draws them toward each other. Roughly two-thirds of teen Snapchat users say keeping up with friends and family is a major reason they use the platform, a higher share than on either TikTok or Instagram. That orientation reflects directly in usage behavior: 57% of teen Snapchat users report messaging others daily, including 41% who do so several times a day. Comparable daily messaging rates on Instagram and TikTok reach 34% and 24%, respectively.
Snapchat also registers the highest share of teens who say the platform helps their friendships, with 44% reporting a positive impact in that area. On entertainment, news, product discovery, and celebrity content, Snapchat trails the other two platforms across the board.
Instagram Occupies a Middle Position
Instagram performs competitively across multiple use cases without leading any of them. Approximately 91% of teen Instagram users cite entertainment as a reason they use it. About 84% say they go there to keep up with friends and family, and 78% say they use it to connect with others who share their interests. Instagram also posts comparable figures to TikTok on celebrity and athlete content, with a majority of teen users citing it as a reason for their engagement.
On product discovery, Instagram lands between TikTok and Snapchat at 48%. Its daily direct messaging rate of 34% sits above TikTok’s 24% but remains well below Snapchat’s 57%. The platform’s cross-category performance positions it as a general-purpose destination, without the sharply defined functional identity that characterizes the other two.
Parental Attitudes Diverge by Platform
Parent perceptions reinforce the functional distinctions teens describe, particularly around TikTok. Among parents of teen TikTok users, 44% say their child spends too much time on the app, compared with 28% of teens who say the same about themselves. That 16-percentage-point gap is the largest in the study and does not narrow significantly for Instagram or Snapchat, though parental concern is highest for TikTok across all measures.
Among parents whose teen does not currently use TikTok, 73% say they would be uncomfortable if their teen did. That figure drops for Snapchat and falls further for Instagram, where parents of non-users express the least resistance. Among parents of active teen Instagram users, 59% say they are comfortable with their teen on the platform, the highest comfort level of the three apps.
Despite the variation in how teens use these platforms and how parents assess them, roughly seven-in-ten teen users on each platform describe their overall experience as mostly positive. Across TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, just 3% of users on each say their experience is mostly negative. The majority on each platform also say the apps neither hurt nor help their mental health, though TikTok users report the highest rates of impact on sleep and productivity of the three.
Image source: Pew Research Center
The full report is available here
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