Youth Online Safety Index
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Common Sense Census: Tweens & Teens

Study details from the Studies index, with sources and citations for each field.

Geo
US
Year
2022
N
1,306
Ages
8-18
Per-app coverage
Harms
Offline—
Files
Report

Notes · Probability (Ipsos KnowledgePanel); Underage-use subgroup ages 8-12, n=560.

References

  1. Rideout et al. (2022)— Report

    Rideout, V., Peebles, A., Mann, S., & Robb, M. B. (2022). Common Sense census: Media use by tweens and teens, 2021. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.

    report
    Retrieved from:
    https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/8-18-census-integrated-report-final-web_0.pdf
    Publication page:
    https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens-2021
    Retrieved on:
    2026-07-30
    Pages:
    64
    Archived source:
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Study details & methodology

Name
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 1open file ↗
“The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens”
Country
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 53open file ↗
“probability-based online survey of 1,306 8- to 18-year-olds in”“the United States. The survey was conducted from September”
Publication year
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 6open file ↗
“Rideout, V., Peebles, A., Mann, S., & Robb, M. B. (2022). Common Sense census: Media use by tweens and teens, 2021.”

The suggested citation gives publication year 2022; 2021 in the title is the fieldwork year.

Fieldwork dates
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 53open file ↗
“the United States. The survey was conducted from September”“29 to October 25, 2021”

September 29–October 25, 2021.

Sample size
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 53open file ↗
“probability-based online survey of 1,306 8- to 18-year-olds in”

Full survey n=1,306. The underage-use subgroup includes 560 respondents aged 8–12 (unweighted sample, p.54).

Age range
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 53open file ↗
“probability-based online survey of 1,306 8- to 18-year-olds in”

Full survey ages 8–18; underage-use coverage uses the ages 8–12 subgroup.

Sampling
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 53open file ↗
“The survey was fielded by Ipsos, using their KnowledgePanel”“a probability-based web panel designed to be representative”“cally based methods such as address-based sampling and”

Probability-based: Ipsos KnowledgePanel, recruited by address-based sampling and random-digit dial, with offline households provided a device and connection. Black respondents over-sampled to reach n>=200.

Harms measured

Underage Use
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 13question context p. 63open file ↗
“Which online sites, if any, do you use?…” “Percent of all 8- to 12-year-olds who have ever used”

Q14 (p.63) asks about use, not account ownership, and is asked only of those using social media at least weekly. Figure D (p.13) labels its summary “have ever used,” although Q14 is present-tense. The measure does not identify permitted supervised use.

Platforms measured

Platform list
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 63open file ↗
“[If use social media at least once a week] Which online sites, if any, do you use?”

Q14 measures use of 8 eligible apps among 8–12s using social media at least weekly; Figure D reports 5. YouTube and TikTok are excluded because permitted under-13 use is not distinguished. Twitch is an example of online video, not a per-app item.

Per-app measurement by harm

Underage Use
Rideout et al. (2022) — Reportp. 63open file ↗
“[If use social media at least once a week] Which online sites, if any, do you use?”

Q14 measures use of 8 eligible apps among 8–12s using social media at least weekly; Figure D reports 5. YouTube and TikTok are excluded because permitted under-13 use is not distinguished. Twitch is an example of online video, not a per-app item.