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 5,733 U.S. adults from May 19 to Sept. 5, 2023. Ipsos conducted this National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS) for the Center using address-based sampling and a multimode protocol that included both web and mail. 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.
Polls from 2000 to 2021 were conducted via phone. For more on this mode shift, read our Q&A.
Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology.
A note on terminology: Our May-September 2023 survey was already in the field when Twitter changed its name to “X.” The terms Twitter and X are both used in this report to refer to the same platform.
Which social media platforms are most common?
YouTube and Facebook are the most-widely used online platforms. About half of U.S. adults say they use Instagram, and smaller shares use sites or apps such as TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter (X) and BeReal.
| Year | YouTube | TikTok | Snapchat | Twitter (X) | 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% |
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. For more details on this shift, please 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 2012-2023.
Who uses each social media platform?
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+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | 75 | 69 | 58 | |
| 78 | 59 | 35 | 15 | |
| 32 | 40 | 31 | 12 | |
| Twitter (X) | 42 | 27 | 17 | 6 |
| 45 | 40 | 33 | 21 | |
| Snapchat | 65 | 30 | 13 | 4 |
| YouTube | 93 | 92 | 83 | 60 |
| 32 | 38 | 29 | 16 | |
| 44 | 31 | 11 | 3 | |
| TikTok | 62 | 39 | 24 | 10 |
| BeReal | 12 | 3 | 1 | <1 |
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 19-Sept. 5, 2023.
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| 59 | 76 | |
| 39 | 54 | |
| 31 | 29 | |
| Twitter (X) | 26 | 19 |
| 19 | 50 | |
| Snapchat | 21 | 32 |
| YouTube | 82 | 83 |
| 27 | 31 | |
| 27 | 17 | |
| TikTok | 25 | 40 |
| BeReal | 2 | 5 |
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 19-Sept. 5, 2023.
| White | Black | Hispanic | Asian* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69 | 64 | 66 | 67 | |
| 43 | 46 | 58 | 57 | |
| 30 | 29 | 23 | 45 | |
| Twitter (X) | 20 | 23 | 25 | 37 |
| 36 | 28 | 32 | 30 | |
| Snapchat | 25 | 25 | 35 | 25 |
| YouTube | 81 | 82 | 86 | 93 |
| 20 | 31 | 54 | 51 | |
| 21 | 14 | 23 | 36 | |
| TikTok | 28 | 39 | 49 | 29 |
| BeReal | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
Note: White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Respondents who did not give an answer are not shown.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 19-Sept. 5, 2023.
| Less than $30,000 | $30,000- $69,999 | $70,000- $99,999 | $100,000+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | 70 | 74 | 68 | |
| 37 | 46 | 49 | 54 | |
| 13 | 19 | 34 | 53 | |
| Twitter (X) | 18 | 21 | 20 | 29 |
| 27 | 34 | 35 | 41 | |
| Snapchat | 27 | 30 | 26 | 25 |
| YouTube | 73 | 83 | 86 | 89 |
| 26 | 26 | 33 | 34 | |
| 12 | 23 | 22 | 30 | |
| TikTok | 36 | 37 | 34 | 27 |
| BeReal | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 19-Sept. 5, 2023.
| High school or less | Some college | College graduate+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | 71 | 70 | |
| 37 | 50 | 55 | |
| 10 | 28 | 53 | |
| Twitter (X) | 15 | 24 | 29 |
| 26 | 42 | 38 | |
| Snapchat | 26 | 32 | 23 |
| YouTube | 74 | 85 | 89 |
| 25 | 23 | 39 | |
| 14 | 23 | 30 | |
| TikTok | 35 | 38 | 26 |
| BeReal | 3 | 4 | 4 |
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 19-Sept. 5, 2023.
| Urban | Suburban | Rural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 66 | 68 | 70 | |
| 53 | 49 | 38 | |
| 31 | 36 | 18 | |
| Twitter (X) | 25 | 26 | 13 |
| 31 | 36 | 36 | |
| Snapchat | 29 | 26 | 27 |
| YouTube | 85 | 85 | 77 |
| 38 | 30 | 20 | |
| 29 | 24 | 14 | |
| TikTok | 36 | 31 | 33 |
| BeReal | 4 | 4 | 2 |
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 19-Sept. 5, 2023.
| Rep/Lean Rep | Dem/Lean Dem | |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | 67 | |
| 43 | 53 | |
| 29 | 34 | |
| Twitter (X) | 20 | 26 |
| 35 | 35 | |
| Snapchat | 27 | 28 |
| YouTube | 82 | 84 |
| 25 | 33 | |
| 20 | 25 | |
| TikTok | 30 | 36 |
| BeReal | 4 | 4 |
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted May 19-Sept. 5, 2023.
Find out more
This fact sheet was compiled by Research Assistant Olivia Sidoti, with help from Research Analyst Risa Gelles-Watnick, Research Analyst Michelle Faverio, Digital Producer Sara Atske, Associate Information Graphics Designer Kaitlyn Radde and Temporary Researcher Eugenie Park.
Follow these links for more in-depth analysis of the impact of social media on American life.
- Americans’ Social Media Use Jan. 31, 2024
- Americans’ Use of Mobile Technology and Home Broadband Jan. 31 2024
- Q&A: How and why we’re changing the way we study tech adoption Jan. 31, 2024
Find more reports and blog posts related to internet and technology.