Teens Use TikTok To Discover, Snapchat To Connect, And Instagram For Both, Research Finds

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
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