PREVALENCE AND PATTERNS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN EARLY ADOLESCENTS

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

Social media use often starts before the age of 13, with 42% of children aged 9-12 having Facebook accounts in 2013-2014. Among adolescents aged 11-15, 69.5% have at least one social media account, with Instagram (66%) and YouTube (64.7%) being the most popular platforms. Girls report higher usage and more problematic behaviors, such as addiction-like tendencies, compared to boys. Unregulated access to social media during early adolescence has been linked to poor sleep, substance use, and cyberbullying.