A new study of US adults’ social media use has been released by the Pew Research Center. More than a third of adults now say they use TikTok, making it the fastest-growing site. However, YouTube (especially) and Facebook are still the most popular, just like in the last poll in 2021.
The poll was given to 5,733 people in the US from May 19 to September 5, 2023. 83% of those who answered said they had used YouTube at some point, making it by far the most popular site. At the same time, 68% of people said they were on Facebook.
In terms of age groups, those are the only sites where most people consistently use them. However, there are still gaps between age groups, especially among YouTube users. For instance, 93% of people aged 18 to 29 say they use Google’s video app, while 60% of people aged 65 and up say the same. (On Facebook, there is only a 9% gap between these two groups.)
Instagram Reigns, TikTok Surges: Top Social Media Platforms and the Age Divide
Overall, 47% of those who answered said they use Instagram, which put it in third place. The next level down is made up of Pinterest (35%), TikTok (33%), LinkedIn (30%), WhatsApp (29%), and Snapchat (27%). ByteDance’s TikTok grew the most: from 21% two years ago to 12 points now, the platform has grown by 12 points. No other platform on the list has made a bigger jump than that one.
At 22 percent each, Reddit and X are in the next level down. To make things even more difficult, Elon Musk’s company changed its name from Twitter to X and hired a new CEO while the polls were being done. From 23% in 2021 to 23% in 2022, the company said that its users went down a little. On the other hand, Reddit went up four points from 18% two years ago, even though the platform’s API debate happened while the polls were being done.
Age Gap Widens: How Social Media Usage Varies Across Generations
Other sites with big differences between age groups are Instagram (78% of people ages 29 to 29 use it, compared to 15% of people aged 65 and up) and Snapchat (65% of people under 30 use it, compared to 4% of people aged 65 and up). People between the ages of 40 and 49 have very high rates for LinkedIn (40%) WhatsApp (38%) and Facebook (75%). This group includes younger Gen-Xers and all but the youngest Millennials.
It’s also worth noting that Pew says TikTok is very popular among Hispanic users—49% of those surveyed said they used it, and women said they used it 15% more than men. X is more popular with people whose household income is at least $100,000 yearly, which is nine points more than the $70,000 to $99,999 range. It may not come as a surprise that LinkedIn has a higher rate of people with at least a bachelor’s degree (25 points higher than those with “some college education” and 43 percent higher than those with a high school graduation or less).
