A report has revealed that American adults use social media platforms YouTube and Facebook the most. Pew Research Center findings showed that nearly eight in ten American adults (83 percent) reported using YouTube. Facebook is also a major player in the online landscape with 68 percent user base. Whereas, 47 percent of American adults said that they use Instagram. The center’s recent findings also show that YouTube dominates the social media landscape among American teens.
In the report, Jeffrey Gottfried, Associate Research Director of Pew Research Center, said, YouTube and Facebook are the only two platforms that are used by most people of all age groups. He said there is still a large age gap between the youngest and oldest adults when it comes to YouTube use. However, the age difference is very small for Facebook.
The findings, based on a survey of 5,733 US adults conducted in May-September 2023, showed that TikTok, which some members of Congress had previously called for a ban, has seen a growth in its user base since 2021. One-third of US adults use video-based platforms, up 12 percentage points from 2021. About 27 percent to 35 percent of American adults also use Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Snapchat.
Three Platforms At The Forefront
Additionally, nearly one in five also shared that they use X and Reddit. Additionally, the report found a significant age difference between Instagram (78 percent), Snapchat (65 percent) and TikTok (62 percent) users. These platforms are used by most adults under the age of 30. “Americans ages 30 to 49 lead the way in using the three platforms LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Facebook at the highest rates,” Gottfried said.
For example, 40 percent of people in this age group use LinkedIn, up from about three percent among those ages 18 to 29 and 50 to 64. Only 12 percent of those aged 65 and older say the same.” The report also revealed that women are more likely than men to use Pinterest (50 percent vs. 19 percent), TikTok (40 percent vs. 25 percent) and Are more likely to use Instagram (54 percent vs. 39 percent).
