APPS USED

• A recent survey on American teens found out that teenagers aged 13-17 have shifted their attention from the popular social media platform Facebook, and are now most likely to use Instagram and Snapchat. 
• According to a study conducted between March 7-April 10, 2018 by Pew Research Center, 42% of teenage females between the ages of 13-17 say that Snapchat is the online social media platform that they use, while 25% of teenage females say that they use YouTube the most.
• On average, approximately 81% of teenage girls utilize YouTube, 75% use Instagram, 72% use Snapchat, 53% use Facebook, 32% use Twitter, 9% use Tumblr, and 4% use Reddit.
• About 97% of teenage girls own or have access to a smartphone at home, 31% can access a cellphone that is not a smartphone, 88% can access a desktop or laptop computer, and 75% can access a gaming console.

TIME AND FREQUENCY

• According to Common Sense Media, teens aged between 13-17 years spend an average of 9 hours a day online using social media, playing video games or watching videos.
• According to the study, 60% of teens—those between the ages of 13 to 17—said that "spending too much time online is a “major” problem facing their age group, with about nine in 10 teens dubbing it a problem."
• More than half of teens (54%) in the study, stated that they spend too much time on their cellphones, and 41% said they overdo it on social media.
• According to a study by Pew, 44% of teens often check their phones for messages or notifications as soon as they wake up while 28% said that they check their phones at least sometimes during the day.
• As of July 1, 2018, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that approximately 50.8% of the population is female. Therefore, the % of teenage females that check their phones for messages or notifications as soon as they wake up = [44% of all teenagers] * [50.8% female]= 22.35%.
• The % of teenage females that check their phones at least sometimes during the day = [28% of all teenagers] * [50.8% female]= 14.22%.
• Pew Research also indicates that 45% of teens are online on a near-constant basis, with half of them (50%) being teenage girls.

REASONS WHY

• According to ICEF Monitor, social media use continues to grow with especially rapid expansion for messaging and photo sharing platform.
• Pew Research indicates that 40% of teenagers between the ages of 13-17 that use social media say it has a positive effect because it makes it easier for them to connect with friends and family and therefore makes them feel less lonely or alone.
• As of July 1, 2018, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that approximately 50.8% of the population is female. The % of teenage females that say social media has a positive effect because it makes it easier for them to connect with family and friends = [40% of all teenagers] * [50.8% female] = 20.32%.

MONEY SPENT ON APPS

• We were not able to find data on the amount of money spent by this specific demographics since many industry reports/studies start the ages off at 18-24, and thus do not apply to this setting.
• In general app purchasing is frequent according to Research scape, 34% of their study respondents had purchased their app in the past 7 days, and 73% of them had purchased it in the past month.
• In the study, 66% of the respondent purchased their app for fun, 32% purchased their most recent app "for the functionality it provides," 12% "for the information it provides, and 17% "for self-improvement".
• Comcore research indicates that 64% of millennials(18-24) in 2017, purchased an app with 36% of them purchasing five or more apps.

RESEARCH STRATEGY