Social Media Use in 2021

A majority of Individuals say they use YouTube and Fb, whereas use of Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok is very widespread amongst adults below 30.

Regardless of a string of controversies and the general public’s comparatively damaging sentiments about facets of social media, roughly seven-in-ten Individuals say they ever use any form of social media website – a share that has remained comparatively steady over the previous 5 years, in response to a brand new Pew Analysis Heart survey of U.S. adults.

Past the overall query of general social media use, the survey additionally covers use of particular person websites and apps. YouTube and Fb proceed to dominate the net panorama, with 81% and 69%, respectively, reporting ever utilizing these websites. And YouTube and Reddit had been the one two platforms measured that noticed statistically important development since 2019, when the Heart final polled on this subject by way of a cellphone survey.

With regards to the opposite platforms within the survey, 40% of adults say they ever use Instagram and about three-in-ten report utilizing Pinterest or LinkedIn. One-quarter say they use Snapchat, and comparable shares report being customers of Twitter or WhatsApp. TikTok – an app for sharing quick movies – is utilized by 21% of Individuals, whereas 13% say they use the neighborhood-focused platform Nextdoor.

Whilst different platforms don’t almost match the general attain of YouTube or Fb, there are specific websites or apps, most notably Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, which have an particularly sturdy following amongst younger adults. Actually, a majority of 18- to 29-year-olds say they use Instagram (71%) or Snapchat (65%), whereas roughly half say the identical for TikTok.

These findings come from a nationally consultant survey of 1,502 U.S. adults performed by way of phone Jan. 25-Feb.8, 2021.

Apart from YouTube and Reddit, most platforms present little development since 2019

YouTube is essentially the most generally used on-line platform requested about on this survey, and there’s proof that its attain is rising. Absolutely 81% of Individuals say they ever use the video-sharing website, up from 73% in 2019. Reddit was the one different platform polled about that skilled statistically important development throughout this time interval – rising from 11% in 2019 to 18% at the moment. 

Fb’s development has leveled off over the past 5 years, but it surely stays some of the broadly used social media websites amongst adults in the US: 69% of adults at the moment say they ever use the positioning, equaling the share who stated this two years prior.  

Equally, the respective shares of Individuals who report utilizing Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter and WhatsApp are statistically unchanged since 2019. This represents a broader pattern that extends past the previous two years wherein the fast adoption of most of those websites and apps seen within the final decade has slowed. (This was the primary 12 months the Heart requested about TikTok by way of a cellphone ballot and the primary time it has surveyed about Nextdoor.)

Adults below 30 stand out for his or her use of Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok

When requested about their social media use extra broadly – quite than their use of particular platforms – 72% of Individuals say they ever use social media websites.

In a sample according to previous Heart research on social media use, there are some stark age variations. Some 84% of adults ages 18 to 29 say they ever use any social media websites, which is analogous to the share of these ages 30 to 49 who say this (81%). By comparability, a considerably smaller share of these ages 50 to 64 (73%) say they use social media websites, whereas fewer than half of these 65 and older (45%) report doing this.

These age variations usually lengthen to make use of of particular platforms, with youthful Individuals being extra probably than their older counterparts to make use of these websites – although the gaps between youthful and older Individuals range throughout platforms.

Majorities of 18- to 29-year-olds say they use Instagram or Snapchat and about half say they use TikTok, with these on the youthful finish of this cohort – ages 18 to 24 – being particularly more likely to report utilizing Instagram (76%), Snapchat (75%) or TikTok (55%). These shares stand in stark distinction to these in older age teams. As an illustration, whereas 65% of adults ages 18 to 29 say they use Snapchat, simply 2% of these 65 and older report utilizing the app – a distinction of 63 share factors.

Moreover, a overwhelming majority of adults below the age of 65 say they use YouTube. Absolutely 95% of these 18 to 29 say they use the platform, together with 91% of these 30 to 49 and 83% of adults 50 to 64. Nonetheless, this share drops considerably – to 49% – amongst these 65 and older.

By comparability, age gaps between the youngest and oldest Individuals are narrower for Fb. Absolutely 70% of these ages 18 to 29 say they use the platform, and people shares are statistically the identical for these ages 30 to 49 (77%) or ages 50 to 64 (73%). Half of these 65 and older say they use the positioning – making Fb and YouTube the 2 most used platforms amongst this older inhabitants.

Different websites and apps stand out for his or her demographic variations:

• Instagram: About half of Hispanic (52%) and Black Individuals (49%) say they use the platform, in contrast with smaller shares of White Individuals (35%) who say the identical.
• WhatsApp: Hispanic Individuals (46%) are much more more likely to say they use WhatsApp than Black (23%) or White Individuals (16%). Hispanics additionally stood out for his or her WhatsApp use within the Heart’s earlier surveys on this subject.
• LinkedIn: These with increased ranges of schooling are once more extra probably than these with decrease ranges of academic attainment to report being LinkedIn customers. Roughly half of adults who’ve a bachelor’s or superior diploma (51%) say they use LinkedIn, in contrast with smaller shares of these with some faculty expertise (28%) and people with a highschool diploma or much less (10%).
• Pinterest: Ladies proceed to be much more probably than males to say they use Pinterest compared with male counterparts, by a distinction of 30 factors (46% vs. 16%).
• Nextdoor: There are giant variations in use of this platform by group kind. Adults residing in city (17%) or suburban (14%) areas usually tend to say they use Nextdoor. Simply 2% of rural Individuals report utilizing the positioning.

A majority of Fb, Snapchat and Instagram customers say they go to these platforms every day

Whereas there was a lot written about Individuals’ altering relationship with Fb, its customers stay fairly energetic on the platform. Seven-in-ten Fb customers say they use the positioning day by day, together with 49% who say they use the positioning a number of instances a day. (These figures are statistically unchanged from these reported within the Heart’s 2019 survey about social media use.)  

Smaller shares – although nonetheless a majority – of Snapchat or Instagram customers report visiting these respective platforms day by day (59% for each). And being energetic on these websites is very widespread for youthful customers. As an illustration, 71% of Snapchat customers ages 18 to 29 say they use the app day by day, together with six-in-ten who say they do that a number of instances a day. The sample is analogous for Instagram: 73% of 18- to 29-year-old Instagram customers say they go to the positioning on daily basis, with roughly half (53%) reporting they achieve this a number of instances per day.

YouTube is used day by day by 54% if its customers, with 36% saying they go to the positioning a number of instances a day. By comparability, Twitter is used much less regularly, with fewer than half of its customers (46%) saying they go to the positioning day by day.