The statistics below were collected from various resources including: Social Media and Young Adults, Pew Internet & American Life Project, Global Insights Into Family Life Online, Norton/Symantec & StrategyOne, Teen/Mom Internet Safety Survey, McAfee & Harris Interactive, Pew Research Center, FOSI, Cable in the Classroom 2011, Journal of Adolescent Health, National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA)-McAfee Online Safety Study, American Osteopathic Association, Social Media and Young Adults, Pew Internet, American Life Project and Grunwald Associates.

Social Media Statistics

• 88% of teens have seen someone be mean or cruel to another person on a social networking site.
• The number of sexual assault cases related to social media sites has increased by 300%.
• 12% of teens say they witnessed unpleasant behavior “frequently” on social networking sites.
• 55% of parents of 12-year-olds said their child was on Facebook and 76% said they helped their child gain access.
• 15% of teens say they were the target of online cruelty.
• 41% of teens had a negative experience as a result of using a social networking site.
• 22% of teens lost their friendship with someone due to actions on social media sites.
• 13% had an experienced a problem with their parents because of social media sites.
• 8% were involved in a physical fight with someone else because of something posted on a social networking site.
• 25% of teens had experienced a face-to-face argument or confrontation as a result of posts on Facebook.
• 62% of parents of teens ages 13-14 are “friends” with their child are Facebook.
• 6% have gotten in trouble at school because of postings on a social networking site.
• 29% of Internet sex crime relationships were initiated on a social networking site.
• In 26% of online sex crimes against minors, offenders disseminated information and/or pictures of the victim through the victim’s personal social networking site.
• 67% of teenagers say they know how to hide what they do online from their parents.
• 43% of teens say they would change their online behavior if they knew that
  their parents were watching them.
• 39% think their online activity is private from everyone, including parents.
• 20% of kids think their parents have no idea what they‘re doing online.
• 55% of teens have given out personal information to someone they don‘t know,
  including photos and physical descriptions.
• 60% created profiles or personal sites.
• Approximately 20%  of teens update their sites or profiles at least once a day.
• 64% of teens upload photos to social media sites.
• 42% of teens are creating characters, avatars, such as Meez, or anime to express themselves across their personal profiles.
• 33% of of all Internet-initiated sex crimes involved social networking sites.
• 24% of social network users say they are not at all confident in their ability to use privacy settings.
• Half of all sex crimes against a minor involving a social networking site, the social networking site was used to initiate the relationship.
• 81% of online 9-17 year olds say that they visited a social networking website within the past 3 months.
• 71% of online 9-17 year olds visit these sites at least weekly.
• Among online 9-17 year olds – more time is spent on social networks than on TV.
• Cases of Internet sex crimes against children involving social networking sites were more likely to result in a face-to-face meeting. This was true of 81% of Internet-initiated crimes involving a social networking site.
• 38% of Facebook users in the last year were under the age of 13.
• More than 25% of Facebook users last year were under the age of 10.
• Only 18% of parents with children under 10 on Facebook are actually “friends” with their child on the site.
• Only 10% of parents of children aged 10 and under had frank talks about appropriate online behavior and threats.
• Of the active adult users of Facebook, 66% reported they did not know privacy controls existed on Facebook and/or they did not know how to use the privacy controls.
• 29% have been stalked or contacted by a stranger or someone they don’t know.
• 24% have had private or embarrassing info made public without their permission.
• 67% of teenagers say they know how to hide what they do online from their parents.
• 43% of teens say they would change their online behavior if they knew that their parents were watching them.
• 39% of tweens and teens think their online activity is private from everyone, including parents.
• 20% of kids think their parents have no idea what they’re doing online.
• 85% of parents with teenage children ages 13-17 report that their child have a social networking profile.
• 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day.

These statistics demonstrate the need for parents to spend time talking with their children about the dangers of social media and monitor their teens and tweens computers, mobile phones iPads and tablets.