Demographics of Social Media Users and Adoption in the United States

Many Americans use social media to connect with one another, engage with news content, share information and entertain themselves. Explore the patterns and trends shaping the social media landscape.

To better understand Americans’ social media use, Pew Research Center surveyed 5,626 U.S. adults from Feb. 1 to June 10, 2024. SSRS conducted this National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS) for the Center using address-based sampling and a multimode protocol that included web, mail and phone. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race and ethnicity, education and other categories.

Surveys fielded before 2023 were conducted via phone. For more on the mode shift in 2023, read our Q&A.

Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology.

YouTube and Facebook are the most-widely used online platforms. Half of U.S. adults say they use Instagram, and smaller shares use sites or apps such as TikTok, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and Snapchat.

Which social media platforms are most popular

% of U.S. adults who say they ever use …

Year	YouTube	Facebook	Instagram	Pinterest	TikTok	LinkedIn	WhatsApp	Snapchat	X (formerly Twitter)	Reddit	BeReal	Nextdoor
8/5/2012		54%	9%	10%		16%			13%
8/7/2012									14%
12/9/2012			11%	13%					13%
12/16/2012		57%
5/19/2013									15%
7/14/2013									16%
9/16/2013		57%	14%	17%		17%			14%
9/30/2013									16%
1/26/2014									16%
9/21/2014		58%	21%	22%		23%			19%
4/12/2015		62%	24%	26%		22%			20%
4/4/2016		68%	28%	26%		25%			21%
1/10/2018	73%	68%	35%	29%		25%	22%	27%	24%
2/7/2019	73%	69%	37%	28%		27%	20%	24%	22%	11%
2/8/2021	81%	69%	40%	31%	21%	28%	23%	25%	23%	18%		13%
9/5/2023	83%	68%	47%	35%	33%	30%	29%	27%	22%	22%	3%
6/10/2024	85%	70%	50%	36%	33%	32%	30%	27%	21%	24%	3%

Note: The vertical line indicates a change in mode. Polls from 2012-2021 were conducted via phone. In 2023, the poll was conducted via web and mail. In 2024, the poll was conducted via web, mail and phone. For more on the mode shift in 2023, read our Q&A. Refer to the topline for more information on how question wording varied over the years. Pre-2018 data is not available for YouTube, Snapchat or WhatsApp; pre-2019 data is not available for Reddit; pre-2021 data is not available for TikTok; pre-2023 data is not available for BeReal. Respondents who did not give an answer are not shown.

Source: Surveys of U.S. adults conducted 2012-2024.

Usage of the major online platforms varies by factors such as age, gender and level of formal education.

% of U.S. adults who say they ever use __ by …

	Ages 18-29	30-49	50-64	65+
Facebook	68	78	70	59
Instagram	76	66	36	19
LinkedIn	40	41	30	15
X (formerly Twitter)	38	25	15	8
Pinterest	43	43	33	22
Snapchat	65	32	14	4
YouTube	93	94	86	65
WhatsApp	30	40	28	18
Reddit	46	35	11	4
TikTok	59	40	26	10
BeReal	10	2	1	<1