Pew Research’s latest look at social media habits shows that the country still gravitates toward a familiar pair. YouTube sits at the top with eighty four percent of adults saying they use it at least sometimes, and Facebook follows with seventy one percent. The survey draws on responses from just over five thousand adults collected in the first half of the year. The figures reflect a landscape where long running platforms stay steady while a handful of others push upward bit by bit.
Instagram holds the third spot with half of adults saying they use it. TikTok reaches thirty seven percent, and WhatsApp sits at thirty two percent. Reddit shows a similar climb with twenty six percent. The numbers for these four have all increased since 2021. Instagram gained ten points, WhatsApp gained nine, and Reddit moved from eighteen percent to twenty six percent. TikTok saw the sharpest rise as it moved from twenty one percent to thirty seven. These gains come even after political pressure and legal disputes around the app earlier in the year, something highlighted in a separate analysis that compared the current results with an earlier 2024 snapshot.
Survey responses also show where smaller platforms stand. Threads comes in at eight percent, Bluesky at four percent, and Truth Social at three percent. These figures match their more modest reach. They also mark the first time Threads has been included in the Pew dataset. Pinterest and LinkedIn do not appear this year because of survey design limits, a shift from the previous report that measured a broader set of apps.
While the overall rankings have not changed much, movement becomes clearer when responses from early 2024 enter the picture. YouTube rose from eighty three percent to eighty four. Facebook moved from sixty eight to seventy one. Instagram edged up from forty seven to fifty. TikTok rose from thirty three to thirty seven. WhatsApp moved from twenty nine to thirty two. Reddit grew from twenty two to twenty six. Snapchat slipped from twenty seven to twenty five, and X moved downward from twenty two to twenty one. These shifts underline slow but measurable adjustments in how people distribute their attention across platforms.
Age continues to play a central role in how Americans use social media. Adults under thirty lead on Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Reddit. Eight in ten young adults use Instagram, which stands far higher than the nineteen percent measured among those sixty five and older. YouTube and Facebook draw majorities across all age groups, though younger adults remain the most active on YouTube. For Facebook, the strongest daily use comes from the thirty to forty nine group and the fifty to sixty four group. The patterns show how habits change as people move through different life stages.
Other demographic factors shape platform use as well. Women report higher use of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Men lean toward Reddit and X. Patterns by race show stronger use of Instagram and WhatsApp among Hispanic, Black, and Asian adults when compared with White adults. Education also plays a part. Adults with a college degree report more activity on Reddit, WhatsApp, and Instagram. People with less formal education show higher TikTok use. Political differences appear across several apps. Democrats report higher use of WhatsApp, Reddit, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky. Republicans report higher use of X and Truth Social.
Frequency of use adds another layer. About half of adults visit Facebook daily. A similar share checks YouTube every day. TikTok reaches twenty four percent for daily use, while X sits at ten percent. Younger adults push the numbers higher for both YouTube and TikTok, with roughly half of those between eighteen and twenty nine visiting TikTok at least once a day. Daily use questions were limited to four apps. Pew selected YouTube and Facebook because they are the largest, while TikTok and X were included due to ongoing public debates surrounding their user bases and policies.
One limitation of the dataset stands out. The survey measures whether someone ever uses an app rather than tracking time spent. That distinction affects the reading of Facebook’s high numbers because many people may check it briefly without giving it the same attention they give to TikTok or Instagram. The report does not try to measure deeper engagement. It serves instead as a snapshot of reach.
The overall picture shows a stable hierarchy. YouTube and Facebook remain at the top, and they continue to draw consistent daily use. Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Reddit move upward at different speeds. Newer contenders like Threads and Bluesky appear, though they sit low in the rankings. The shifts remain gradual, yet they signal how user preferences evolve while established platforms hold firm.
Notes: This post was drafted with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed, edited, and published by humans.
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| Platform | % of U.S. adults who ever use it |
|---|---|
| YouTube | 84% |
| 71% | |
| 50% | |
| TikTok | 37% |
| 32% | |
| 26% | |
| Snapchat | 25% |
| X (Twitter) | 21% |
| Threads | 8% |
| Bluesky | 4% |
| Truth Social | 3% |
Instagram holds the third spot with half of adults saying they use it. TikTok reaches thirty seven percent, and WhatsApp sits at thirty two percent. Reddit shows a similar climb with twenty six percent. The numbers for these four have all increased since 2021. Instagram gained ten points, WhatsApp gained nine, and Reddit moved from eighteen percent to twenty six percent. TikTok saw the sharpest rise as it moved from twenty one percent to thirty seven. These gains come even after political pressure and legal disputes around the app earlier in the year, something highlighted in a separate analysis that compared the current results with an earlier 2024 snapshot.
Survey responses also show where smaller platforms stand. Threads comes in at eight percent, Bluesky at four percent, and Truth Social at three percent. These figures match their more modest reach. They also mark the first time Threads has been included in the Pew dataset. Pinterest and LinkedIn do not appear this year because of survey design limits, a shift from the previous report that measured a broader set of apps.
While the overall rankings have not changed much, movement becomes clearer when responses from early 2024 enter the picture. YouTube rose from eighty three percent to eighty four. Facebook moved from sixty eight to seventy one. Instagram edged up from forty seven to fifty. TikTok rose from thirty three to thirty seven. WhatsApp moved from twenty nine to thirty two. Reddit grew from twenty two to twenty six. Snapchat slipped from twenty seven to twenty five, and X moved downward from twenty two to twenty one. These shifts underline slow but measurable adjustments in how people distribute their attention across platforms.
Age continues to play a central role in how Americans use social media. Adults under thirty lead on Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Reddit. Eight in ten young adults use Instagram, which stands far higher than the nineteen percent measured among those sixty five and older. YouTube and Facebook draw majorities across all age groups, though younger adults remain the most active on YouTube. For Facebook, the strongest daily use comes from the thirty to forty nine group and the fifty to sixty four group. The patterns show how habits change as people move through different life stages.
Other demographic factors shape platform use as well. Women report higher use of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Men lean toward Reddit and X. Patterns by race show stronger use of Instagram and WhatsApp among Hispanic, Black, and Asian adults when compared with White adults. Education also plays a part. Adults with a college degree report more activity on Reddit, WhatsApp, and Instagram. People with less formal education show higher TikTok use. Political differences appear across several apps. Democrats report higher use of WhatsApp, Reddit, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky. Republicans report higher use of X and Truth Social.
Frequency of use adds another layer. About half of adults visit Facebook daily. A similar share checks YouTube every day. TikTok reaches twenty four percent for daily use, while X sits at ten percent. Younger adults push the numbers higher for both YouTube and TikTok, with roughly half of those between eighteen and twenty nine visiting TikTok at least once a day. Daily use questions were limited to four apps. Pew selected YouTube and Facebook because they are the largest, while TikTok and X were included due to ongoing public debates surrounding their user bases and policies.
One limitation of the dataset stands out. The survey measures whether someone ever uses an app rather than tracking time spent. That distinction affects the reading of Facebook’s high numbers because many people may check it briefly without giving it the same attention they give to TikTok or Instagram. The report does not try to measure deeper engagement. It serves instead as a snapshot of reach.
The overall picture shows a stable hierarchy. YouTube and Facebook remain at the top, and they continue to draw consistent daily use. Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Reddit move upward at different speeds. Newer contenders like Threads and Bluesky appear, though they sit low in the rankings. The shifts remain gradual, yet they signal how user preferences evolve while established platforms hold firm.
Notes: This post was drafted with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed, edited, and published by humans.
Read next: Google Expands Image Verification in Gemini as AI Content Grows
