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Social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, the Harvard TH Chan School of. Public health. The study is the first to offer estimates of the number of young users of these platforms and the amount of annual advertising revenue attributable to them.
The study will be published on December 27, 2023 in PLOS ONE.
“As concerns about young people’s mental health grow, more policymakers are attempting to introduce laws aimed at restricting practices on social media platforms that can lead to depression, anxiety and disorder. of eating among youth,” said lead author Bryn Austin, professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
“While social media platforms may claim they can self-regulate their practices to reduce harm to young people, they have not yet done so, and our study suggests they have enormous financial incentives to continue to delay taking meaningful action to protect children.”
Researchers used various public survey and market research data from 2021 and 2022 to comprehensively estimate the number of young users of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube, as well as the associated advertising revenue.
Demographic data from the U.S. Census and survey data from Common Sense Media and Pew Research were used to estimate the number of people under the age of 18 using these platforms in the United States. Data provided by eMarketer, a market research company, and Qustodio, a parental control app. estimates of each platform’s projected gross advertising revenue in 2022 and average user minutes per day on each platform.
The researchers used these estimates to create a simulation model that estimates the amount of advertising revenue generated by the platforms from young American users.
The study found that in 2022, YouTube had 49.7 million users under the age of 18 based in the United States; TikTok, 18.9 million; Snapchat, 18 million; Instagram, 16.7 million; Facebook, 9.9 million; and X, 7 million. The platforms collectively generated nearly $11 billion in advertising revenue from these users: $2.1 billion for users aged 12 and under and $8.6 billion for users aged 13 to 17 .
YouTube generated the most ad revenue from users 12 and under ($959.1 million), followed by Instagram ($801.1 million) and Facebook ($137.2 million). Instagram generated the largest ad revenue from users aged 13 to 17 ($4 billion), followed by TikTok ($2 billion) and YouTube ($1.2 billion). Researchers also calculated that Snapchat earned the largest share of its overall ad revenue in 2022 from users under 18 (41%), followed by TikTok (35%), YouTube (27%), and Instagram (16%). ).
The researchers noted that the study had limitations, including that they relied on estimates and projections from public surveys and market research, because social media platforms do not disclose data on the age of users nor on advertising revenue by age group.
“Our finding that social media platforms generate substantial advertising revenue from young people highlights the need for greater data transparency as well as public health interventions and government regulations,” the author said principal Amanda Raffoul, instructor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
More information:
Social media platforms generate billions of dollars in revenue from American youth: results of a simulated revenue model, PLOS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295337
Provided by Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
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