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Social media platforms are making big money off of young users, according to a new study led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study, which used public survey and market research data from 2021 and 2022 to estimate Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube’s number of youth users and related ad revenue, found that those platforms collectively raked in close to $11B in 2022: $2.1 billion from users ages 12 and under and $8.6 billion from users ages 13-17.
For users under the age of 12, YouTube was the biggest money maker, with $959.1 million in ad revenue. Instagram was close behind ($801.1 million) and Facebook racked up $137.2 million. Users between 13 and 17 resulted in the most ad revenue for Instagram ($4 billion), followed by TikTok ($2 billion) and YouTube ($1.2 billion).
When it comes to the percentage of its ad revenue that each platform attributes to young users, Snapchat tops the list, with 41 percent coming from users under 18. Those users account for more than a third (35 percent) of TikTok’s ad revenues, with YouTube (27 percent) and Instagram (16 percent) lagging behind.
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In terms of overall US-based users under 18, YouTube led the way by a wide margin with 49.7 million. Tik Tok had 18.9 million and Snapchat had 18 million, followed by Instagram (16.7 million), Facebook (9.9 million) and X (7 million).
“Our finding that social media platforms generate substantial advertising revenue from youth highlights the need for greater data transparency as well as public health interventions and government regulations,” said lead author Amanda Raffoul, instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
The researchers did note the limitations of the study included the reliance on estimations and projections from public survey and market research sources, as social media platforms don’t disclose user age data or advertising revenue data by age group.
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