When the hell did Google+ become popular with teens?

Pew Research released a study this week about the social media habits of teenagers, and some of the results are quite surprising. What isn’t a surprise is the fact that Facebook is still the undisputed leader among teens, despite claims to the contrary, while Instagram and Snapchat aren’t that far behind. The surprising part is that around 33% of teens are using Google+, which means it’s tied with Twitter. I’m not kidding. Though when you take a closer look at the numbers, things make a bit more sense. 

24% of teens go online “almost constantly,” facilitated by the widespread availability of smartphones. Aided by the convenience and constant access provided by mobile devices, especially smartphones, 92% of teens report going online daily — including 24% who say they go online “almost constantly,” according to a new study from Pew Research Center. More than half (56%) of teens — defined in this report as those ages 13 to 17 — go online several times a day, and 12% report once-a-day use. Just 6% of teens report going online weekly, and 2% go online less often. Much of this frenzy of access is facilitated by mobile devices. Nearly three-quarters of teens have or have access1 to a smartphone and 30% have a basic phone, while just 12% of teens 13 to 17 say they have no cell phone of any type. African-American teens are the most likely of any group of teens to have a smartphone, with 85% having access to one, compared with 71% of both white and Hispanic teens. These phones and other mobile devices have become a primary driver of teen internet use: Fully 91% of teens go online from mobile devices at least occasionally. Among these “mobile teens,” 94% go online daily or more often. By comparison, teens who don’t access the internet via mobile devices tend to go online less frequently. Some 68% go online at least daily.