Your Teen Isn’t Just on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram Anymore—AI Is Now Part of Their Daily Life

A new 2025 report from Pew Research Center, based on a survey of 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 conducted between September 25 and October 9, 2025, shows that while social media is still central to teen life, something else is quickly rising alongside it: AI chatbots. 

The platforms teens use most haven’t disappeared; YouTube, TikTok and Instagram still dominate. But for the first time, AI is showing up as part of their routine, not just as a novelty or experiment.

If you want to understand how your teen experiences the internet today, you have to look at both: the platforms they scroll and the AI tools they’re starting to rely on.

What Platforms Teens Actually Use in 2025

Let’s start with where teens are actually spending time.

According to Pew’s 2025 data, 92% of teens say they use YouTube. TikTok follows at 68%, and 63% use Instagram. Snapchat is used by 55% of teens, while 31% report using Facebook and 24% use WhatsApp.

YouTube is the clear leader, TikTok and Instagram remain strong, with about six in ten teens using each. Snapchat, once the center of teen digital life, is still used by more than half of teens, but it’s no longer at the top. And Facebook continues its long decline among younger users.

But usage alone doesn’t tell the whole story. Intensity matters just as much: about 21% of teens say they use TikTok almost constantly, and 17% say the same about YouTube.

That means roughly one in five teens isn’t just checking these platforms throughout the day, they’re rarely offline from them.

Related:

• YouTube Gives Parents More Control Over Teens’ Shorts and Screen Time
• TikTok and Roblox Just Added New Safety Features—How They Can Help You Protect Your Child Online
• Instagram's AI Detects Teens Who Lie About Their Age and Moves Them into Teen Accounts — Here's What That Means

When Being Online Is the Default, and AI Is Part of It

Nearly all teens — 97% — say they use the internet daily, and 40% say they are online “almost constantly”, compared to 24% a decade ago. 

For many young people, being online is the background of life: school messages, group chats, homework research, video recommendations, notifications.

And now, AI is part of that environment.

Roughly 64% of teens say they use AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Copilot or Character.ai. About three in ten use them daily. Specifically, 4% say they use chatbots almost constantly and 12% say several times a day.

When it comes to specific tools, ChatGPT leads with 59% of teens saying they use it, making it the most popular chatbot among teens. Other tools trail behind: 23% use Gemini, 20% use Meta AI, 14% use Copilot, 9% use Character.ai, and 3% use Claude. 

Related: My Child Is Chatting with ChatGPT. Should I Be Worried?

A 17-Year-Old’s Digital Life May Look Very Different From a 13-Year-Old’s — Even Within the Same Household

The report also highlights important differences that parents should understand.

Girls are more likely than boys to use Snapchat and Instagram. For example, 61% of girls say they use Snapchat, compared with 49% of boys. Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to use Reddit and YouTube. About 94% of boys report using YouTube, compared with 89% of girls.

There are also differences by race and ethnicity. Black and Hispanic teens are far more likely than White teens to say they are online almost constantly. Specifically, 55% of Black teens and 52% of Hispanic teens report being online almost constantly, compared with 27% of White teens.

Age matters, too — especially when it comes to AI.

Among teens ages 15 to 17, 68% say they use AI chatbots, compared with 57% of teens ages 13 to 14. Daily use is also more common among older teens: 31% of 15- to 17-year-olds use chatbots daily, compared with 24% of younger teens.

In practical terms, that means two siblings in the same home may be navigating very different digital worlds.

Related: How to Talk AI and Deepfakes with Children

Should Parents Worry?

More time online doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong. But it does mean the digital environment plays a much bigger role in shaping mood, identity, attention, and even friendships.

It also means teens are sharing more data, seeing more content, exposed to more ads and algorithmic suggestions, and potentially encountering more risks. And now, that environment includes AI.

The teenage years are also when many parents begin stepping back from strict parental controls. Older teens are allowed to create their own accounts, manage their own settings, and make more independent choices online. Both parents and teenagers often find themselves in a grey area — relying heavily on platform settings and hopefully good habits to stay safe.          

But platform settings alone aren’t designed to carry that responsibility.

What helps is a combination of awareness, conversation, and quiet protection:

• Knowing which platforms your teen uses and how
• Asking how they use AI, not just whether they use it
• Talking about privacy in simple, practical terms
• Explaining that chatbots are trained on data, not emotions
• Keeping conversations open and nonjudgmental
• Using a security solution that flags and blocks scams and phishing links before they cause harm

Related: Why Being a More Involved Digital Parent Helps Your Child Thrive Online

You don’t need to know everything about every app your teen uses. But you do need to know they’re safe while navigating their digital world.

That’s why all Bitdefender Family plans include preset roles tailored to different stages of life. Younger children can benefit from parental controls and stronger content filtering, while teenagers can have protection that respects their growing need for independence without removing security in the background.

The roles adjust to the needs of each family member, grandparents included, so protection extends across the household.

 The internet isn’t going away, and AI isn’t either. But the relationship your teen has with you still matters more than any platform, and the right safeguards can quietly support that relationship while giving them a safe space.

Take a look at one of our family plans and consider stepping up your family’s digital safety.