YouTube, Snapchat more popular than Facebook among US teens
San Francisco, June 1: YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are the most popular online platforms among US teenagers today, pushing Facebook, which once dominated the social media landscape, to the fourth position, according to a new survey.
Today, roughly half (51 percent) of US teenagers between ages 13 and 17 say they use Facebook, notably lower than the shares who use YouTube, Facebook-owned Instagram or Snapchat, showed the Pew Research Center survey results released on Thursday.
While 85 per cent teenagers use YouTube, 72 per cent use Instagram and 69 per cent use Snapchat, showed the survey conducted between March 7-April 10 this year.
Notably, lower-income teenagers are more likely to gravitate toward Facebook than those from higher-income households.
Seven-in-ten teenagers living in households earning less than $30,000 a year say they use Facebook, compared with 36 per cent whose annual family income is $75,000 or more, the results showed.
Interestingly, girls were more likely than boys to say Snapchat is the site they use most often, while boys were more inclined than girls to identify YouTube as their go-to platform.
This shift in social media use of teenagers is just one example of how the technology landscape for young people has evolved since the Pew Research Center's last survey of teenagers and technology use in 2014-2015.
Most notably, smartphone ownership has become a nearly ubiquitous element of teenage life .
Fully 95 per cent of teenagers in the US have today access to a smartphone, and 45 per cent say they are online "almost constantly", the results showed.
The shares of teenagers who use Twitter and Tumblr are largely comparable to the shares who did so in the 2014-2015 survey.
The survey also found there is no clear consensus among teenagers about the effect that social media has on the lives of young people today.
Minorities of teenagers describe that effect as mostly positive (31 per cent) or mostly negative (24 per cent), but the largest share (45 per cent) says that effect has been neither positive nor negative, the survey showed.
It also revealed that while a majority of both boys and girls play video games, gaming is nearly universal for boys.
Overall, 84 per cent of teenagers say they have or have access to a game console at home, and 90 per cent say they play video games of any kind - whether on a computer, game console or cellphone.
While a substantial majority of girls report having access to a game console at home (75 per cent) or playing video games in general (83 per cent), those shares are even higher among boys.
Roughly nine-in-ten boys (92 per cent) have or have access to a game console at home, and 97 per cent say they play video games in some form or fashion, the results showed.
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Noida labour unrest: UP govt orders interim hike in minimum wages, says final wage fixation soon
Noida (PTI): The Uttar Pradesh government has directed an interim hike in minimum wages across worker categories following unrest in Noida, with revised rates coming into effect from April 1 retrospectively, officials here said on Tuesday.
The wage hike translates into an increase of up to Rs 3,000 across categories, with workers in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad witnessing a rise of up to 21 per cent in their monthly earnings, they said
The process for final wage fixation would be taken up through a wage board to be constituted soon, and the government is also considering additional welfare measures related to workers' health, pension and education of their children, Industrial Development Commissioner Deepak Kumar said.
The wage increase has been done by the high-powered committee, formed to look into the labour issues after large-scale protests by factory workers in Noida on Monday, to provide immediate financial relief to the workers, the officials said.
"The decision was approved by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh late last night," Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam said.
According to a statement, the committee is working towards resolving industrial discord through dialogue and coordination, while also considering further measures to address workers' concerns.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appealed to employers to ensure timely payment of wages, proper overtime compensation, weekly offs, bonuses and social security benefits, while maintaining safe working conditions, particularly for female workers, the statement said.
In Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, unskilled workers will now get Rs 13,690 per month, up from Rs 11,313, while semi-skilled workers will receive Rs 15,059, and skilled workers Rs 16,868, according to an official statement.
For other municipal corporation areas, the revised monthly wages have been fixed at Rs 13,006 for unskilled workers, Rs 14,306 for semi-skilled workers, and Rs 16,025 for skilled workers.
In the remaining districts, unskilled workers will get Rs 12,356 per month, semi-skilled workers Rs 13,591, and skilled workers Rs 15,224. The decision follows consultations with employers' bodies and labour organisations.
The government said suggestions and objections were examined to ensure a "balanced and practical" outcome.
The statement said that industries are facing global economic challenges, including rising input costs and declining exports, even as workers' demands regarding wages, overtime, safety and working conditions remain "relevant and important."
"In such a situation, it is essential to adopt a balanced approach between industry and labour," the government said, adding that provisions under the new labour codes aim to ensure fair wages and protect workers' interests.
It said it is considering an interim increase in wages based on indexation and will initiate the process for final wage fixation on the recommendations of a wage board to be constituted soon.
Meanwhile, the government dismissed as "fake and misleading" reports circulating on social media claiming that a uniform minimum wage of Rs 20,000 per month had been fixed for workers.
Clarifying the position, it said the process of determining a national "floor wage" under the new labour codes is underway at the central level and no such notification had been issued.
Industrial Development Commissioner Deepak Kumar said the decision on wage hike was taken following a detailed review of the recent developments and was aimed at providing immediate financial relief to workers while maintaining a balanced approach.
"The Uttar Pradesh government, on the directions of the Chief Minister, has decided to implement an interim increase in minimum wages. The highest increase has been given to the skilled category, and in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, the hike goes up to 21 per cent. These revised rates will be effective from April 1, 2026," he said.
The committee, which visited Noida following the unrest, said workers' representatives had maintained that their agitation was peaceful and centred around demands such as wage hikes, weekly offs, double overtime pay, safety and dignified working conditions.
At the same time, the possibility of the involvement of "external elements" in the violence was flagged, with workers themselves expressing apprehension about outsiders fuelling the unrest, they said.
To address grievances and ensure better coordination, the administration has set up a dedicated control room at the district level. Workers can register complaints and seek assistance through helpline numbers 120-2978231, 120-2978232, 120-2978862 and 120-2978702, officials said.
The state government has also issued strict directions for action against anti-social elements involved in the violence, launching a special drive to identify such individuals through technical surveillance, intelligence inputs and local information gathering.
The officials said those found responsible would face stringent legal action, including arrests and criminal cases, asserting that attempts to disturb industrial harmony and law and order would not be tolerated.
So far, over 300 people have been arrested and seven FIRs lodged at different police stations in connection with Monday's violence, Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh said on Tuesday.
