A majority of Americans say they employ YouTube and Facebook, while use of Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok is especially mutual among adults under xxx.

To ameliorate understand Americans' use of social media, online platforms and messaging apps, Pew Inquiry Middle surveyed i,502 U.S. adults from January. 25 to February. 8, 2021, by cellphone and landline phone. The survey was conducted by interviewers under the direction of Abt Associates and is weighted to be representative of the U.South. developed population by gender, race, ethnicity, education and other categories. Hither are the questions used for this report, forth with responses, and its methodology.

Despite a string of controversies and the public's relatively negative sentiments well-nigh aspects of social media, roughly seven-in-ten Americans say they always utilise whatsoever kind of social media site – a share that has remained relatively stable over the by five years, according to a new Pew Enquiry Center survey of U.S. adults.

Growing share of Americans say they use YouTube; Facebook remains one of the most widely used online platforms among U.S. adults

Beyond the general question of overall social media use, the survey also covers use of individual sites and apps. YouTube and Facebook continue to dominate the online mural, with 81% and 69%, respectively, reporting ever using these sites. And YouTube and Reddit were the simply two platforms measured that saw statistically meaning growth since 2019, when the Middle concluding polled on this topic via a phone survey.

When it comes to the other platforms in the survey, 40% of adults say they ever use Instagram and near three-in-ten written report using Pinterest or LinkedIn. One-quarter say they use Snapchat, and like shares study beingness users of Twitter or WhatsApp. TikTok – an app for sharing short videos – is used by 21% of Americans, while 13% say they use the neighborhood-focused platform Nextdoor.

Even as other platforms practice non about friction match the overall reach of YouTube or Facebook, there are sure sites or apps, almost notably Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, that take an especially strong following amidst young adults. In fact, a majority of eighteen- to 29-year-olds say they use Instagram (71%) or Snapchat (65%), while roughly one-half say the same for TikTok.

These findings come from a nationally representative survey of 1,502 U.South. adults conducted via telephone Jan. 25-Feb.8, 2021.

With the exception of YouTube and Reddit, almost platforms bear witness piffling growth since 2019

YouTube is the about commonly used online platform asked almost in this survey, and there's evidence that its achieve is growing. Fully 81% of Americans say they ever utilize the video-sharing site, upwards from 73% in 2019. Reddit was the only other platform polled about that experienced statistically significant growth during this time period – increasing from 11% in 2019 to eighteen% today.

Facebook'southward growth has leveled off over the last five years, but it remains one of the most widely used social media sites among adults in the Usa: 69% of adults today say they ever utilize the site, equaling the share who said this two years prior.

Similarly, the respective shares of Americans who report using Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter and WhatsApp are statistically unchanged since 2019. This represents a broader trend that extends beyond the by two years in which the rapid adoption of most of these sites and apps seen in the concluding decade has slowed. (This was the first yr the Center asked about TikTok via a phone poll and the commencement fourth dimension it has surveyed nigh Nextdoor.)

Adults under 30 stand up out for their utilise of Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok

When asked about their social media apply more broadly – rather than their use of specific platforms – 72% of Americans say they ever use social media sites.

In a design consequent with past Center studies on social media utilise, there are some stark age differences. Some 84% of adults ages 18 to 29 say they e'er use any social media sites, which is similar to the share of those ages 30 to 49 who say this (81%). By comparison, a somewhat smaller share of those ages 50 to 64 (73%) say they use social media sites, while fewer than half of those 65 and older (45%) written report doing this.

These historic period differences more often than not extend to use of specific platforms, with younger Americans existence more than likely than their older counterparts to employ these sites – though the gaps between younger and older Americans vary across platforms.

Age gaps in Snapchat, Instagram use are particularly wide, less so for Facebook

Majorities of 18- to 29-yr-olds say they use Instagram or Snapchat and about half say they utilize TikTok, with those on the younger terminate of this cohort – ages 18 to 24 – existence especially probable to report using Instagram (76%), Snapchat (75%) or TikTok (55%).1 These shares stand in stark dissimilarity to those in older age groups. For case, while 65% of adults ages 18 to 29 say they employ Snapchat, only 2% of those 65 and older report using the app – a divergence of 63 percentage points.

Additionally, a vast majority of adults nether the historic period of 65 say they apply YouTube. Fully 95% of those xviii to 29 say they utilize the platform, along with 91% of those 30 to 49 and 83% of adults fifty to 64. However, this share drops substantially – to 49% – among those 65 and older.

By comparison, historic period gaps betwixt the youngest and oldest Americans are narrower for Facebook. 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%) or ages 50 to 64 (73%). One-half of those 65 and older say they apply the site – making Facebook and YouTube the 2 most used platforms amongst this older population.

Other sites and apps stand out for their demographic differences:

  • Instagram: About half of Hispanic (52%) and Black Americans (49%) say they employ the platform, compared with smaller shares of White Americans (35%) who say the aforementioned.two
  • WhatsApp: Hispanic Americans (46%) are far more likely to say they utilize WhatsApp than Black (23%) or White Americans (xvi%). Hispanics also stood out for their WhatsApp use in the Center'south previous surveys on this topic.
  • LinkedIn: Those with higher levels of education are once more more than likely than those with lower levels of educational attainment to written report existence LinkedIn users. Roughly half of adults who take a bachelor's or advanced degree (51%) say they apply LinkedIn, compared with smaller shares of those with some higher experience (28%) and those with a high schoolhouse diploma or less (ten%).
  • Pinterest: Women continue to be far more likely than men to say they use Pinterest when compared with male counterparts, by a departure of thirty points (46% vs. xvi%).
  • Nextdoor: At that place are large differences in use of this platform 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.
Use of online platforms, apps varies – sometimes widely – by demographic group

A majority of Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram users say they visit these platforms on a daily footing

Seven-in-ten Facebook users say they visit site daily

While in that location has been much written most Americans' changing human relationship with Facebook, its users remain quite active on the platform. Vii-in-x Facebook users say they apply the site daily, including 49% who say they use the site several times a day. (These figures are statistically unchanged from those reported in the Center's 2019 survey nearly social media utilise.)

Smaller shares – though still a majority – of Snapchat or Instagram users written report visiting these respective platforms daily (59% for both). And existence active on these sites is especially common for younger users. For instance, 71% of Snapchat users ages 18 to 29 say they use the app daily, including six-in-x who say they practice this multiple times a mean solar day. The blueprint is similar for Instagram: 73% of xviii- to 29-yr-onetime Instagram users say they visit the site every day, with roughly half (53%) reporting they do so several times per day.

YouTube is used daily past 54% if its users, with 36% saying they visit the site several times a day. By comparing, Twitter is used less ofttimes, with fewer than one-half of its users (46%) saying they visit the site daily.