Social media has pros and cons. Teenagers use it heavily. Here’s how to minimize its hazards.
Teenagers are heavy users of social media. Nearly all U.S. children age 13 to 17 – 95 percent – have smartphones, according to Consumer Affairs, a consumer research journal. That gives them easy access to the internet and social media platforms.
A Pew Research Center survey released in 2025 provides a lot of detail about teens’ use of social media.
They typically use more than one social media site. Among the teens Pew contacted, 90% said they use YouTube; 63% use TikTok; 61% use Instagram; 55% use Snapchat; 32% use Facebook; 23% use WhatsApp; and 17% percent use X (formerly called Twitter). There are other social media platforms, too, with much smaller teen participation. Also, the survey revealed that, depending on the platform, 10 to 16% of teens say they’re on that platform on a “near-constant” basis.
That huge exposure to social media can create problems. Dr. Debra Braun-Courville, an adolescent medicine expert at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, points out that social media can disrupt time that a teen needs to spend sleeping or doing school work. It can also influence beliefs and behaviors.
There are well-established risks to social media use, Braun-Courville said, including:
- Privacy concerns
- Sexual predators
- Trolling/cyberbullying
- Identity theft
- What Braun-Courville calls the “psychosocial consequences” of using social media too often.
Social media can lead to unrealistic comparison
One of those psychosocial effects is poor self-esteem and poor body image. This can develop when teens compare themselves to the images of other people they see in social media. Adolescents today, especially girls, worry not only about maintaining a supposedly perfect image in real life but on social media, too. It can create stress and anxiety if teens feel that their own life doesn’t measure up to the “perfection” they see posted on friends’ or celebrities’ social media accounts.
Teens’ awareness of social media’s harms is growing
About half (48%) of the teens in the Pew Research study said social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age, up from 32% in 2022. But only 14% said it has a mostly negative effect on them personally.
About three-quarters of the teens in the survey said these platforms make them feel more connected to their friends. And 63% credit social media with giving them a place to show their creative side.
The Pew Research Study found that among the teens it studied, 63% said social media is an important – or the most important – way they find information about their own mental health.
Because social media is such a powerful force in kids’ lives, parents need to have an ongoing conversation with their tweens and teens about social media. Using social media responsibly can have positive benefits for teens and families, Braun-Courville said. She cited some possible upsides to teens’ social media use.
It can improve or encourage “peer and family connection, self-expression, discovering new ideas, learning about different points of view, civic engagement,” she said. It’s all about balance.
“It is important to help teens develop critical thinking skills and evaluate what they encounter online: Is it fact or fiction? It is appropriate for my age? How does this make me feel? Am I being unduly influenced by the content?” Braun-Courville said.
Parents should encourage back-and-forth communication with teens about social media use and come at it from curiosity. Ask teens why they interact with certain media platforms and how to set appropriate boundaries. Examples of some of those boundaries include time limits on media; setting screen-free times; deciding on rules for overnight access to phones, computers and other screens; and setting “do not disturb” times on digital devices.
Parents and children should create guidelines for safe and healthy technology use together, instead of parent-driven rules, she said.
5 ways to help your teen use social media responsibly
- Set a limit on how much computer and phone time your teen is allowed.
- Be a positive role model for your teen. If you are always on the phone or computer, most likely your teen will mirror what you are doing. Set aside time when all electronic devices are turned off. There are cell phone “jails” where all devices are kept during that time. That’s a great way of keeping everyone accountable.
- Get the password and user names for all of the social media outlets that your teen uses. There will definitely be a power struggle over this. It is in children’s best interest, however, to have parents spot-check their social media accounts periodically to see what they are posting and who they are following and communicating with.
- Teach your teen never to share any personal information over the Internet, such as their address, phone number or inappropriate pictures. Your teen may have good intentions, but the person on the other end may not be who or what is portrayed online.
- Remind your teen that everything he or she posts online is there forever, even if it’s deleted. A teen may post something while upset. If she doesn’t want anyone to read or see something, she shouldn’t post it. Colleges and potential employers look at their social media accounts.
Social media is not all bad.
“Most of the literature now recognizes that there are simultaneous pros and cons to social media, and blanket statements for teens are difficult,” Braun-Courville said. The key is to educate your teen and set up limitations and expectations from the beginning.
