Two recent surveys on teens pointing out the leading activities among teens including media activities and shopping trends. Earlier this month, Gallup released its “Familial and Adolescent Health Survey” consisting of 1,591 teens (age 13-19) and 6,642 parents of teens. The survey was conducted from June 26-July 17, 2023. The survey inquired about parental and child wellbeing, parenting practices, youth mental health, youth activities, quality of parent-child relationships among other subjects.

Also, earlier this month, Piper Sandler, a multinational investment bank, released its 46^th semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens^® survey polling 9,193 teens (average age 15.7). Below are some findings:

Gallup: The Gallup survey found over half (51%) of U.S. teens (13-19) spend a minimum of four hours daily on social media, at an average of 4.8 hours every day on social media. The survey found, on average, female teens spend nearly one-hour (5.3 hours) more each day on social media than their male (4.4 hours) counterparts. Looking at specific social media websites, YouTube and TikTok are the most popular among both genders.

On average, teens spend 1.9 hours daily on YouTube and another 1.5 hours on TikTok. Males spend more time on YouTube (2.1 hours) and females spend more time on TikTok (1.9 hours). Instagram ranks third with teens spending an average 0.9 hours each day (1.1 hours with female teens and 0.7 hours with male teens). Lagging far behind the top three were; Facebook (0.3 hours), Twitter/X (0.2 hours), WhatsApp (0.1 hours) and WeChat (0.0 hours).

The survey found social media usage peaks at the age of 17 for both genders with an average of 5.8 hours each day. Also, 62% of 17-year-olds spend 4+ hours on social media daily. The survey found time spent with social media was lowest among 13-year-olds at 4.1 hours daily.

Gallup reported 25% of parents strongly agreed with the statement they limit the screen time of their children (age 3-to-19). At 41%, parents who consider themselves very conservative strongly agree on restrictions on screen time. Conversely, 26% of parents that consider themselves conservative agree on social media time restrictions. Only 23% of parents that consider themselves moderate, liberal or very liberal agree on time restrictions.

The teens surveyed said they spend 1.8 hours less time on social media if their parents strongly agree on restrictions, compared to parents who strongly disagree. Gallup also reported that 76.7% of teens said they spend two or more hours on social media and only 29.1% said they spend that much time doing their homework.

The report noted, “Consistent with the literature on ‘digital addiction,’ these data show that teens who spend more time on social media rate themselves as being less conscientious more generally and live with parents who are less likely to restrict screen time.” The survey comes at a time when concerns are growing on the impact that social media has especially with female teens.

Piper Sandler: Perhaps the biggest takeaway of Piper Sandler’s latest semi-annual survey was, in a first, teens said they were spending more time with YouTube than Netflix NFLX . (Piper Sandler categorized YouTube as a video platform and not as social media.) Teens surveyed said 29.1% of the daily time with video was spent on YouTube, compared to 28.7% with Netflix. Compared to its survey released earlier this year, Piper Sandler found time spent with YouTube grew by almost 1%, while time spent with Netflix declined by over 2%.

Among other streaming platforms, Hulu ranked third at 7%. Piper Sandler noted the share of video time spent grew for both Prime Video and Disney+ compared to earlier this year. In contrast, teens were spending less time with cable television, Max and Hulu.

Looking at social media, Piper Sandler found teens were spending approximately 4.5 hours daily on social media. The survey found 38% of teens said TikTok was its favorite social media outlet, followed by Snap and Instagram. In self-reported monthly usage however, Instagram ranked first. Piper Sandler found 87% of teens own an iPhone with 88% responding they expect the iPhone to be their next mobile purchase

Piper Sandler surveys also track the purchasing activities of teens. For its latest survey, teens self-reported that they spend $2,316 annually, a 4% falloff from the spring survey and 1% lower from last fall. Male teens reported year-over-year spending increased by 11%, on the other hand, female teens said their spending dropped by 8%.

A factor in the overall decline with teens spending is rising costs. When asked about the biggest social and political issues, inflation ranked second behind the environment, the economy ranked fifth. A majority of teens (62%), said their parents are supplying funds to their spending, 37% responded that the money earned from part-time jobs is being used. The survey found more teens are now shopping at low-cost retailers such as T.J. Maxx, Marshall’s, Ross Stores ROST and Nordstrom’s Rack. Conversely, teens said they were shopping less at Target TGT and Walmart WMT .

Looking at a few brands, Piper Sandler reported for the 12^th consecutive year, Nike NKE was the most popular clothing and footwear brand among teens with a share of 35% and 61% respectively. Also ranking strong were American Eagle and Lululemon. Among restaurants, Chick-fil-A ranked first in restaurants with a 16% share, followed by Starbucks SBUX (13%) and McDonald’s (9%).

Piper Sandler noted for the first time since 2019 cosmetics has surpassed skincare as the leading subcategory in beauty. For cosmetics brands, e.l.f. Beauty Inc. led with female teens increasing its share to 29%. For retailers, Sephora has a 37% share followed by Ulta at 32%. Amazon AMZN remains, by a wide margin, the most popular online shopping site with 59% share, Shein ranked second at 7%.