--- title: 'We Heart It' Survey: Valentine's Day Is Tough for Teens description: Young love on social media isn't all it's cracked up to be, according to new research provided to TIME canonical: https://time.com/3709714/valentines-day-is-tough-for-teens-and-here-are-the-numbers-to-prove-it/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-13T21:41:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:42:19.734Z og:title: 'We Heart It' Survey: Valentine's Day Is Tough for Teens og:description: Young love on social media isn't all it's cracked up to be, according to new research provided to TIME og:url: https://time.com/3709714/valentines-day-is-tough-for-teens-and-here-are-the-numbers-to-prove-it/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'We Heart It' Survey: Valentine's Day Is Tough for Teens twitter:description: Young love on social media isn't all it's cracked up to be, according to new research provided to TIME twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Teens Are Totally Over Valentine's Day > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=645b81e3-df69-4a63-abea-ca4075bddcfa&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) ## Video: First Grade Valentines [Watch (HLS stream): First Grade Valentines](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dxn3NutC.m3u8) (2:35)  _Published 2010-02-10. Out of the mouths of babes, love is explained. Brooklyn first graders write and read their valentines and describe the meaning of Valentines Day_  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Feb 13, 2015 9:41 PM UTC  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Feb 13, 2015 9:41 PM UTC Ah, to be young on Valentine’s Day: walking past aisles of CVS chocolates to pick up your acne medication, stalking your sister’s college roommate on Instagram to admire her cute boyfriend, glaring at the one couple in your high school who prove that teenage love isn’t a cruel rom-com fantasy. Nobody ever said adolescence was a bunch of roses, but now there’s data to prove how sad it really is. Teenagers are the most miserable group on Valentine’s Day, according to new data compiled by social-media platform We Heart It and provided to TIME. The vast majority of 21,000 responses (over 98%) were from teenage girls, and they didn’t have a lot of love for the holiday. Only 13% of teenagers under 15 think Valentine’s Day is “painful,” while 22% say it’s “overrated,” and 24% think it’s irrelevant. Teenagers are also the least likely age group to send Valentines, with over 53% saying they’re not sending any at all (compared with 41% of respondents over 25). Teens also have very different attitudes about social media on Valentine’s Day — and it’s giving new meaning to the phrase “love hurts.” Young teens seem to think that social media is essential to the Valentine’s Day experience: 21% of respondents under 15 said social media was “extremely important” on Valentine’s Day, and over 64% said it was “somewhat” important. By contrast, only 10% of respondents over 25 said they thought it was “very important” to Instagram or Tweet their chocolates and flowers. But all those vicarious Valentines aren’t making teens feel better — instead, social media make them feel worse. Only 36% said they thought social media made Valentine’s Day more fun, while 65% said social media either made them feel jealous or stressed out (34% said they got jealous, 31% said they got stressed). By contrast, 54% of respondents over 25 said they thought social media made the day more fun. In other words: Valentine’s Day, like red wine and stinky cheese, just gets better with age. ## Transcript >> People give kisses and it's all wet. >> When like someone kiss you, you [ unk ]. >> Today, we're gonna be talking about Valentine's Day. It's a day where we get to celebrate all the important people in our lives and how much we care about them and love them and all the great things they do for us. You're gonna get to write a special Valentine for that special someone. Valentine's letters. Who are you gonna write to [ unk ]. I'm seeing lots of " I love you's" and " You're special to me ". All really nice things to write to a valentines. >> Told you. >> Dear Mom. >> Dear Mom. >> Dear Mom. >> Dear Michael Jackson, I know that you are a pop star. -[ unk ] >> Valentine's Day is a holiday about love. >> Mean you love someone? >> That means when they [ unk ] someone [ unk ]. >> Well, I've done it first. >> Nice, loud, clear voice. >> You keep me safe. You buy me anything I want. I am [ unk ] hug you. -[ unk ] you kiss me [ unk ] you will always love me in the heart. You are my best mother. >> Do I need to [ unk ]. >> Dad, you are special to me. From [ unk ]. >> Happy Valentine's Day! >> Good job everyone. [ unk ] a Valentine? >> Me. >> We all did. >> Better is with a computer. >> Computer. >> Computer. >> I'll send email. >> Paper is not digital. It's just paper. You can just do it on the computer. It doesn't make it sloppy. >> You can love whoever's in your family even your Auntie. 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