Thread by @BenjaminBHerold

1/ Teen social media use is *skyrocketing,* per new nationally representative survey from @CommonSense. But the researchers behind the study say the sky isn't falling. Here's a thread with what you need to know (plus some .gifs.)

blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Digital…

2/ Just how dramatic is the growth in teen social media use?

Percent of teens who say they use social media more than once a day:

2012: 34%
2018: 70%

3/ All told, 81% of teens now say they use social media. 38% say they do so either "constantly" or "a few times an hour." More than 1/3 of teens post their own content to social media daily.

4/ And what are the most popular social media platforms among teens? No surprises here: 63% use @Snapchat, and 41% of teens say it's their preferred site. 61% of teens use @instagram.

5/ Facebook's decline among teens, on the other hand, has been "precipitous," @CommonSense says.

Percent of teens who say FB is their main social media site:

2012: 68%
2018: 15%

(Consolation: Facebook owns Instagram.)

6/ And at the same time that teen social media has taken off, their interest in face-to-face conversation has declined. Texting is now teens' preferred mode of communicating with friends.

7/ But it's "not all bad news," says @CommonSense. Researchers found almost no connection between the frequency of teens' social media use and their social-emotional well-being.

8/ On the whole, teens say using social media makes them feel *more* confident and *less* depressed.

1/4 of teens said using social media makes them less lonely, compared to just 3% who said it makes them feel more lonely.

9/ Teens also say they're aware of social media's downsides:

A staggering 72% of teens "believe that tech companies manipulate users to spend more time on their devices."

10/ Where can teachers & parents help? Teens aren't very good at regulating their own social media use, by turning off/silencing devices during sleep, homework, meals, and social times, @CommonSense found.

11/ And companies have a role to play, too.

Features such as Snapchat's Streaks "deliberately put undue pressure on teens to use a platform when they don't have any internal need to" and should be addressed with better design choices, said senior research director Michael Robb.

12/ fin