There’s new evidence Instagram’s plan to win over teens is working

Instagram usage reached a new peak among US teens.

Teens are using Instagram like never before.

According to the investment bank Piper Sandler’s latest survey of US teenagers, Instagram is the most used social-media app (and TikTok is the most liked).

Piper Sandler surveyed about 13,500 US teenagers this fall to understand their behaviors on things like social media, fashion, and food.

The analysts found that 87% of teens said they used Instagram at least once a month. That’s up from 80% a year ago, and an all-time high since Piper Sandler began the survey in 2016.

TikTok was the second most used social app, with 79% saying they used it monthly compared to 74% a year ago. Snapchat came in third at 71% monthly usage, a decline from fall 2023 when 74% said they used the app monthly. Pinterest (41%), Twitter (30%), and Facebook (30%) rounded out the bottom in terms of monthly usage this fall.

TikTok and Meta didn’t respond to requests for comment. A Snap spokesperson declined to comment.

Changing tides among teens using social media

Why is Instagram doing so well? It could be because many of Meta’s efforts to compete with apps like TikTok, Discord, and Snapchat are finally paying off.

Instagram has doubled down on features like notes (statuses that refresh after 24 hours), comments on stories, close friends sharing, and more ways to interact in DMs (such as adding AI bots) to attract younger users.

“If you look at how teens spend their time on Instagram, they spend more time in DMs than they do in stories, and they spend more time in stories than they do in feed,” Instagram’s top exec Adam Mosseri said on Harry Stebbing’s 20VC podcast last July.

Instagram’s dominance over its competitors has also been documented by sources like the data firm Sensor Tower, which found an increase in downloads for the Meta-owned app earlier this year.

But while Instagram may have won the usage contest among US teens, TikTok was the most liked. About 39% of respondents said TikTok was their favorite, compared to 32% for Instagram and 18% for Snapchat, per Piper Sandler’s report.

Snapchat’s drop-off in usage and popularity could be a bad omen for a company that has long prided itself on being the go-to messaging tool for young people. The company said in an April investor presentation that it reached 90% of 13- to 24-year-olds and 75% of 13- to 34-year-olds in more than 25 countries. While 18% of teens said Snapchat was their favorite this fall, 28% ranked it as their favorite in the fall of 2023.

Ultimately, interest among teens can be both a blessing and a curse for social-media apps. US officials and state politicians have been going after Big Tech in recent months over how they protect the safety of their teen users. Fourteen attorneys general sued TikTok this week, alleging that the social platform damaged the mental health of its young users. Meta faced a similar lawsuit from 42 attorneys general last year.

Instagram is meanwhile rolling out mandatory teen accounts for those under 18 years old as it adds safeguards to protect its younger users.