Pew Research Center has released a new report on America’s social media habits, which builds on research done back in 2021.
Jeffrey Gottfried, associate director of research for Pew, was the lead author on the study, which was conducted from May 19 to Sept. 5, 2023, among 5,733 U.S. adults.
What did they find?
Overall, Pew’s new findings were consistent with what the survey center found in 2021.
YouTube and Facebook remain the most used social media apps among all U.S. adults, with 83% and 68% of the adult population using them, respectively.
According to Pew, only about half of adult Americans use Instagram.
The new survey marked the first time the social media app BeReal was included in Pew’s social media research. Researchers found that only 3% of the population used it.
Other changes since 2021
The biggest change Pew found was an increase in TikTok users. The share of Americans who said they use TikTok went up 12 percentage points between 2021 and 2023, from 21% to 33%.
Other social media platforms showed more moderate growth. For example, Instagram use went up by 7 percentage points.
But researchers noted that a change in survey methodology make it less accurate than usual to compare the results from past surveys on social media to the new survey.
“We shifted from gathering responses via telephone to the web and mail. Mode changes can affect study results in a number of ways, therefore we have to take a cautious approach when examining how things have — or have not — changed,” researchers wrote.
Age gaps still exist between users
As new social media platforms appear, old age-related patterns persist. Pew’s new survey found that many more Americans under age 30 use social media compared to older Americans.
Some of the biggest age gaps identified by the new report were for Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
For example, 78% of adults ages 18 to 29 said they use Instagram. Among adults 65 or older, on the other hand, just 15% use the site.
Facebook is the social media platform with the smallest age gap. Majorities of all age groups use the service, researchers found.
According to Pew, about 74% of Americans under age 30 use at least five social media platforms.
Demographic patterns
Here are a few other interesting takeaways from Pew’s new report:
- Women use Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest more than men.
- Hispanic and Asian adults are more likely than white and Black adults to use Instagram.
- Americans with high levels of education are more likely than other Americans to use LinkedIn.