Fact: 7 in 10 Teens Say TikTok Is Mostly Positive (Pew)
Pew surveyed 1,458 US teens and found 7 in 10 TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat users call their experience mostly positive, with only 3% calling it negative.
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Pew surveyed 1,458 US teens and found 7 in 10 TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat users call their experience mostly positive, with only 3% calling it negative.
Most teens say their time on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat is more good than bad. Pew Research Center surveyed 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 in fall 2025, and about seven in ten users of each platform said their overall experience there is mostly positive. Only 3% of users on each platform said their experience is mostly negative.
Why teens keep coming back
Entertainment is the biggest draw. Roughly nine in ten or more teens say entertainment is a reason they use TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat. Most also use the apps to keep in touch with friends and family and to connect with people who share their interests.
Each app plays a different role. Snapchat stands out for friendship: 44% of teen Snapchat users say it helps their friendships. TikTok stands out for fun and discovery: about six in ten teen TikTok users say they go there for product reviews, and roughly eight in ten call entertainment a major reason they open the app.
The honest trade-offs
The picture is not all rosy. TikTok users are the most likely to say the app hurts their sleep, with roughly four in ten saying so, compared with about a quarter of Instagram or Snapchat users. About three in ten teen TikTok users also say they spend too much time on the app. For more on that side of the story, see Study: 45% of Teens Say Social Media Hurts Their Sleep (Pew 2025).
Still, most teens say the apps neither help nor hurt their mental health, and when the apps do affect how teens feel about themselves, it leans positive: 15% of TikTok users say what they see there makes them feel better, while only 3% say it makes them feel worse.
What parents can do
Parents see it differently from teens. About a quarter of parents say social media hurts their teen's mental health, compared with 8% who say it helps. That gap is a good reason to ask your teen how each app actually feels to them, instead of assuming the worst. If your teen gets news from TikTok, our guide on Teens Get News From TikTok: What Parents Should Check can help you talk through what they see.