The Pew Research Center recently published their updated “Social Media Fact Sheet”1 for 2021. Pew Research Center first published the Fact Sheet in 2005 and have surveyed users more than 30 times since then, to determine users’ social media preferences. In that time, the percent of U.S. adults who say they use at least one social media site has risen from 5% in 2005, to 72% in 2019. It has remained at 72% into 2021.
The largest difference in percent of users comes down to age, with younger people using more social media than older cohorts. In 2021, almost 40% more 18–29-year-olds are using social media than users over 65, although the gap has narrowed considerably over time. Overall, social media users represent 84% of U.S. adults 18-29-years-old and 45% of U.S. adults over 65-years-old.
The three most popular social media sites in 2021 have been the leading social media sites for a few years. They include YouTube with 81% of social media users, Facebook with 69%, and Instagram with 40%.
Frequency of Use
For users on these sites, many use the sites daily. For YouTube, 54% of U.S. adults who use YouTube, use it daily. On Facebook, that number changes to 70%. And, the percent of U.S. adults who use Instagram daily is 59%.
An additional cohort uses each service weekly. If you consider surveyed U.S. adults who use each service at least once per week, then 83% of YouTube users are active weekly, 87% of Facebook users are active weekly, and 80% of Instagram users are active weekly.
Demographics
For more fine-grain demographic data, check out the section of the “Social Media Fact Sheet” titled “Who uses each social media platform”2. This data can be used to find the desired audience.
For example, if you’re targeting U.S. adults who are over age 65, you can see that only 4% of them use TikTok but 50% use Facebook and 49% use YouTube. So, spending time targeting this group on TikTok would probably not go as well as targeting this group on Facebook or YouTube.
Conversely, if you’re targeting U.S. adults in the 18-29-year-old range, you’ll see that 95%(!) use YouTube, but only 5% use Nextdoor. These are only a few examples of how you could use this data to find your target audience.
Let me know in the comments what social media sites you use to find your audience and why you’ve chosen them.
If you’re looking for more personalized assistance to understand and build your audience online, check out our services.
References and Further Reading
- Pew Research Center. (2021, April 26). Demographics of Social Media Users and Adoption in the United States. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/.
- Pew Research Center. (2021, April 26). Demographics of Social Media Users and Adoption in the United States: Who uses each social media platform. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/?menuItem=c14683cb-c4f4-41d0-a635-52c4eeae0245#who-uses-each-social-media-platform.
