According to the research, "The survey data reveals a distinct pattern in social media use by socio-economic status. Teens from less well-off households (those earning less than $50,000) are more likely than others to say they use Facebook the most: 49% of these teens say they use it most often, compared with 37% of teens from somewhat wealthier families (those earning $50,000 or more)."

The survey revealed that 14% of teens who come from families earning $75,000 or more use Snapchat most often, compared to 7% of teens whose families earn less than $30,000 annually. Twitter and Instagram followed a similar pattern.

The survey also highlighted that 92% of US teens between the ages of 13 and 17 report going online daily – 24% of them “almost constantly”.

This trend has been put down to the widespread availability of smartphones and other devices in the past number of years. Nearly three-quarters of the teens studied have or have access to a smartphone and 30% have a basic phone.

The Pew Research Center’s “Teens, Social Media and Technology Overview 2015” highlighted a wide range of alarming statistics about the online habits of young people across America.

Here are a few more statistics from the report;

• African-American teens are the most likely group to have a smartphone. 85% have access to one. That compares to 71% in white and Hispanic teens.
• Facebook is still the most popular social network, with 71% of 13-17 year olds using the site.
• Teenage girls dominate visually-oriented social media, across all platforms. 61% of girls use Instagram compared to 44% of boys. Snapchat, Pinterest and Tublr follow a similar pattern.
• Boys are more likely to play video games. 84% of boys play video games online or on their phone compared to 59% of girls.
• 90% of teens with phones exchange texts, at an average of 30 per day.