Despite a string of controversies and the public’s relatively negative sentiments about aspects of social media, roughly seven-in-ten Americans (72%) say they ever use any kind of social media site, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
This share has remained relatively stable over the past five years, the organisation adds.
The new report, based on a nationally representative survey of 1 502 US adults conducted via telephone, finds that YouTube and Facebook continue to dominate the online landscape, with 81% and 69%, respectively, reporting ever using these sites. YouTube and Reddit were the only two platforms measured that saw statistically significant growth since 2019, when the Center last polled on this topic via a phone survey. The share of Americans who say they use YouTube increased from 73% in 2019, and Reddit’s use figures rose from 11% in 2019 to 18% today.
When it comes to the other platforms in the survey, 40% of adults say they ever use Instagram and about three-in-ten report using Pinterest or LinkedIn. One-quarter say they use Snapchat, and similar shares report having used Twitter or WhatsApp. TikTok – an app for sharing short videos – is used by 21% of adult Americans, while 13% say they use the neighborhood-focused platform Nextdoor.
Even as other platforms do not nearly match the overall reach of YouTube or Facebook, there are certain sites or apps – most notably Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok – that have an especially strong following among young adults. In fact, a majority of 18- to 29-year-olds say they use Instagram (71%) or Snapchat (65%), while roughly half (48%) say the same for TikTok.
Other key findings include:
• While there has been much written about Americans’ changing relationship with Facebook, its users remain quite active on the platform. Seven-in-ten Facebook users say they use the site daily, including 49% who say they use the site several times a day. Smaller shares – though still a majority – of Snapchat or Instagram users report visiting these respective platforms daily (59% for each).
• There are some differences by race and ethnicity in Americans’ use of specific platforms. Hispanic Americans (46%) are far more likely to say they use WhatsApp than Black (23%) or White Americans (16%). Additionally, about half of Hispanic (52%) and Black Americans (49%) say they use Instagram, compared with smaller shares of White Americans (35%) who say the same.
• There are large differences in use of Nextdoor by community type. Adults living in urban (17%) or suburban (14%) areas are more likely to say they use Nextdoor. Just 2% of rural Americans report using the site.
• Women continue to be far more likely than men to say they use Pinterest. Fully 46% of women say they use the platform, compared with 16% of men.
• Age gaps between the youngest and oldest Americans are narrower for Facebook than for other platforms. Fully 70% of those ages 18 to 29 say they use the platform, and those shares are statistically the same for those ages 30 to 49 (77%) and ages 50 to 64 (73%). Half of those 65 and older say they use the site – making Facebook and YouTube the two most used platforms among this older population.