Thomas Pryce, from Hereford, set up fake profiles online, pretending to be a girl to encourage boys to send him explicit pictures, police said.
He admitted 29 offences in February which included making indecent images, distributing them and inciting a child.
The teenager was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court earlier.
Following a search of his computer equipment, indecent images and videos were recovered and it emerged that he had contacted more than 90 children online.
Det Con Anna Duckering, from West Mercia Police, said: "Thomas Pryce's online activity involved targeting young victims via social media platforms.
"I would like to praise the courage of these young people who have shown considerable bravery in supporting the case being brought to court.
"Some people still think they can hide behind a false identity online in an attempt to commit offences.
"Today's sentence sends a clear message that they can't hide behind a computer and we will continue to use all of the resources available to us to bring offenders to justice."
Pryce was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life and given an eight-year sexual harm prevention order.
A 19-year-old man has been jailed for four years after admitting dozens of child sex offences involving more than 90 victims.