Snapchat is now the most popular social network among teens, according to new study

As Snapchat has expanded and added new features over the year, it has steadily climbed the ranks of social media titans. In fact, it's now more popular among its core demographic -- teens -- than Twitter, Facebook and now even Instagram.

The Piper Jaffray study "Taking Stock With Teens" polled about 6,500 U.S. teens to see what they felt was the most important social network, and Snapchat took 28% of votes. Instagram came in close-second with 27%, followed by Twitter and Facebook.

In the spring 2015 survey, Instagram was the top social network

The "Taking Stock With Teens" survey, which is done semi-annually, shows Snapchat's rise over the past year. In the spring 2015 survey, Instagram was the top social network, with Snapchat coming in fourth behind Twitter and Facebook. In the fall, Snapchat edged out Facebook for third.

The study shows that teens tend to be more interested in viewing pictures and videos rather than text-focused media seen on Twitter and Facebook.

Snapchat has been making the most changes and updates over the last year, introducing things like Snapchat Discover and debuting live coverage at the Oscars. The social network has expanded into more entertaining areas like adding in more and more video and picture filters, as well as the popular face swapping feature. The platform is consistently updating to keep itself interesting and fresh for users, while other social networks have mostly remained unchanged.

Unsurprisingly, Google+ came in last place with 1% of votes from teens, beat by Tumblr and Pinterest which each had a 2% share of votes.

BONUS: What makes people love Snapchat so much

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