How have teens' social media habits changed?

Last Tuesday, the Laboratorio Adolescenza and the research institute IARD published the results of a survey observing the habits and lifestyles of Italian teenagers. The report analyses the answers of 5670 students aged between 13 and 19 interviewed on various aspects of their daily lives, including their relationship with social media. Victims of a pessimism that unfortunately unites them - the survey revealed that a widespread sense of sadness grips 35% more teenagers than in the past - they rely on social media, as a pastime and as a means of information, even though they are well aware of the fact that what is shared online does not always correspond to reality. 

The disappearance of Facebook and the rise of TikTok 

More and more teenagers are using TikTok. Compared to 2020, when it was chosen by 28.7 percent of respondents, the percentage of teens who say they use the app has risen to 73.3 percent. Facebook, on the other hand, has disappeared from their radar. While three years ago it still managed to interest more than 30% of the interviewed samples, today this number has dropped by more than 16 percentage points to a discouraging 17.5%, a figure that could explain the reason behind Meta's decision to launch Threads, the app modeled after Twitter's interface - which has gained interest among young people in recent years, by the way - as it is almost entirely dedicated to texts. 

Subscriptions on OnlyFans are growing 

While 'harmless' apps such as Pinterest are on the rise, having doubled the percentage of downloads from 24.9% of under-20 users in 2020 to 52.4% in 2023, even the most daring social networking sites are proving successful in winning over teenagers. OnlyFans, a membership-only site known for its explicit content, has gained ground: according to the survey, three years ago the percentage of Italian users under 20 was under 1%, while today it is 7.5% - 12.5% for males.