Teens concede social media is big distraction

It’s not exactly a revelation to those of you with teenagers that your kids are consumed by social media.

Seventy percent of teens admit to tapping into social media multiple times a day, according to a nationally representative survey of more than 1,100 13- to 17-year-olds in the U.S. released Monday by Common Sense, a nonprofit advocacy group. That’s more than double the percentage in 2012.

Over those six years, the number of teens who own a mobile device climbed from 41 percent to 89 percent.

According to the survey, the teens say their increased use of social media affects their social and emotional wellbeing. But many more teens claim a positive result rather than a bad one.

For example, while 3 percent of survey respondents said social media makes them feel lonelier, 25 percent indicated just the opposite.

The fact that teens think of social media favorably is a valid discussion point, says Vicky Rideout, founder of VJR Consulting in San Francisco and the author of the Common Sense report. But Rideout adds, “I do not think for a minute that the only metric we should use to measure what type of impact social media is having on teens is what they say they think it is having.”

On the survey, teens conceded social media can become one big distraction, whether while doing homework (57 percent) or paying attention to other people (54 percent). Nearly half admit to being frustrated by friends who are constantly on their own phones when hanging out.

Teens said Facebook is for communicating with grandparents. Instagram and Snapchat – more than 60 percent each – are where they’d rather be.