YouTube Continues to Have Strong Appeal with Teens

Watching YouTube has long been a daily activity for many teens, so it’s no surprise that it’s the leading content consumption destination for teens in a recent report. Indeed, 82% of teens ages 13-17 surveyed for a Precise.TV study [pdf] say that they’ve watched YouTube recently, putting it well ahead of other social platforms and video games.

While YouTube is in a class of its own, other social platforms are also prominent among content consumption activities. Close to two-thirds (66%) said they used Facebook recently, a fairly surprising result given how the platform has long lost its cache with youth.

Virtually on par with Facebook, some 65% of teens reported watching TikTok recently, and 63% used Instagram. A smaller majority (54%) said they had recently used Snapchat.

Among the various social media platforms and apps listed, YouTube was chosen as the favorite by the largest share (27%) of respondents, with TikTok (21%) next. These averages masked some significant differences, though: among girls, more listed TikTok (25%) than YouTube (23%) as their favorite, while among boys YouTube (30%) held a significant lead over TikTok (18%).

Previous research has likewise found that a higher share of male than female US Gen Zers use YouTube, while the opposite is true of TikTok.

Interestingly, this research finds that Snapchat is the favorite for very few (6% of) teens surveyed. That stands in contrast to ongoing research from Piper Sandler, which consistently finds Snapchat second only to TikTok among teens’ favorites (excluding YouTube).

When asked the best reasons to describe why they consume content on YouTube, teens said first that it’s because it has their favorite content, followed by spending time alone and it being part of their daily routine. Notably, these three reasons – in the same order – were also the top ones given for using TikTok.

For gaming – a common activity for almost two-thirds (64%) of teens – spending time alone and spending time with friends were the equal top reasons given for engaging in the activity, while the top reason for watching video on demand is to spend time with family.

Overall, 93% of teens surveyed said they play video games, with almost half of male teens (45%) playing each day.