By Aijaz Alam
What percentage of Americans use each social media platform?
YouTube is the most used platform in the US: 84% of US adults say they ever use it, in Pew Research Center's survey of 5,511 adults from January to June 2026. Facebook follows at 70%, Instagram at 51% and TikTok at 37%. X fell to 18% from 21% in 2025, and 92% of teens use YouTube.
- 84%US adults who use YouTube, the most used platformPew, Jan-Jun 2026
- 70%US adults who use FacebookPew, Jan-Jun 2026
- 51%US adults who use InstagramPew, Jan-Jun 2026, 79% of adults 18 to 29
- 31%US adults who use LinkedInPew, Jan-Jun 2026
- 25%US adults who use RedditPew, Jan-Jun 2026
- 18%US adults who use X (formerly Twitter)Pew, Jan-Jun 2026, down from 21% in 2025
- 92%US teens 13 to 17 who use YouTubePew, Sep-Oct 2025
The numbers
The full breakdown
US adults who use each social media platform, 2024 to 2026
| Platform | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 84% | 84% | 85% |
| 70% | 71% | 70% | |
| 51% | 50% | 50% | |
| TikTok | 37% | 37% | 33% |
| 33% | 32% | 30% | |
| 31% | No data | 32% | |
| Snapchat | 26% | 25% | 27% |
| 25% | 26% | 24% | |
| X (formerly Twitter) | 18% | 21% | 21% |
| Nextdoor | 18% | No data | No data |
| Truth Social | 4% | 3% | No data |
Share who say they ever use each site or app. Pew dates each survey by its last day: 10 June 2024, 18 June 2025, 18 June 2026. Margin of error +/-1.8 points for all adults in 2026. 'No data' means Pew's chart has no value for that platform in that survey; Pew does not say why.
US adults who use each platform, by age, 2026
| Platform | 18-29 | 30-49 | 50-64 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 95% | 91% | 85% | 65% |
| 69% | 78% | 71% | 59% | |
| 79% | 64% | 41% | 21% | |
| TikTok | 65% | 45% | 31% | 11% |
| 37% | 39% | 36% | 20% | |
| 41% | 37% | 32% | 13% | |
| Snapchat | 56% | 33% | 13% | 4% |
| 40% | 35% | 18% | 6% | |
| X (formerly Twitter) | 31% | 20% | 17% | 7% |
| Nextdoor | 10% | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| Truth Social | 1% | 3% | 6% | 4% |
US adults who use each platform, men and women, 2026
| Platform | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 85% | 83% |
| 63% | 77% | |
| 45% | 56% | |
| TikTok | 31% | 43% |
| 34% | 33% | |
| 32% | 30% | |
| Snapchat | 21% | 30% |
| 27% | 23% | |
| X (formerly Twitter) | 23% | 14% |
| Nextdoor | 14% | 21% |
| Truth Social | 4% | 3% |
US teens ages 13 to 17 who use each platform, 2025
| Platform | Teens who use it |
|---|---|
| YouTube | 92% |
| TikTok | 68% |
| 63% | |
| Snapchat | 55% |
| 31% | |
| 24% |
Pew Research Center, 1,458 US teens, 25 Sep to 9 Oct 2025. Values read from the report chart. A separate survey from the adult figures.
Over time
US adults who use each platform, Pew surveys 2012 to 2026
| Year | YouTube | TikTok | X | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | No data | 54% | 9% | No data | 16% | No data | 13% |
| 2013 | No data | 57% | 14% | No data | 17% | No data | 14% |
| 2014 | No data | 58% | 21% | No data | 23% | No data | 19% |
| 2015 | No data | 62% | 24% | No data | 22% | No data | 20% |
| 2016 | No data | 68% | 28% | No data | 25% | No data | 21% |
| 2018 | 73% | 68% | 35% | No data | 25% | No data | 24% |
| 2019 | 73% | 69% | 37% | No data | 27% | 11% | 22% |
| 2021 | 81% | 69% | 40% | 21% | 28% | 18% | 23% |
| 2023 | 83% | 68% | 47% | 33% | 30% | 22% | 22% |
| 2024 | 85% | 70% | 50% | 33% | 32% | 24% | 21% |
| 2025 | 84% | 71% | 50% | 37% | No data | 26% | 21% |
| 2026 | 84% | 70% | 51% | 37% | 31% | 25% | 18% |
One survey per year, the one Pew uses for all platforms: Aug 2012, Sep 2013, Sep 2014, Apr 2015, Apr 2016, Jan 2018, Feb 2019, Feb 2021, Sep 2023, Jun 2024, Jun 2025, Jun 2026. Pew's chart also has extra single-platform readings in 2012 to 2014 that are not shown. 'No data' means Pew's chart has no value for that platform in that survey. Pew changed survey mode twice: phone until 2021, web and mail in 2023, web, mail and phone from 2024. Compare 2024 to 2026 as one trend and earlier years with care. X was Twitter before 2023.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 84% | Jan-Jun 2026 | Pew Research Center, US adults | Adults who say they ever use YouTube |
| 85% | 2024 | Pew Research Center, US adults | Earlier wave |
| 92% | Sep-Oct 2025 | Pew Research Center, US teens | Teens 13 to 17 in a separate survey, not adults |
| 200 billion | Q2 2025 | Alphabet (company-reported) | Average daily YouTube Shorts views worldwide: views, not people |
Platform reach numbers disagree mostly because they count different things. Pew asks a random sample of US adults whether they ever use each site or app, so its figures are shares of people, and they say nothing about how often or how long anyone uses a platform. A share of 84% for YouTube can include someone who watches one video a month. Pew's teen survey is a separate study with its own sample of 13 to 17 year olds, which is why YouTube reaches 92% there; do not mix the teen and adult figures in one ranking. Company numbers are a different measure again. Alphabet's 200 billion daily Shorts views counts views worldwide, and one person can produce dozens a day, so it cannot be turned into a share of Americans. Within Pew's own series, compare a platform across waves of the same survey: YouTube went from 85% to 84% and X from 21% to 18%.
What it means
How to use these numbers
YouTube and Facebook are still used by well over two-thirds of American adults, and their shares have barely moved since 2023. Instagram has crept up to just over half. TikTok jumped from 21% in 2021 to 37% in 2025 and held there in 2026. X is the clear loser: 18% in 2026, its lowest share in any Pew survey since January 2014 (16%).
Age changes the picture more than anything else. Among adults 18 to 29, Instagram (79%) and TikTok (65%) are close behind YouTube (95%), and Snapchat reaches 56%. Among adults 65 and over, YouTube (65%) and Facebook (59%) are the only platforms used by most, and TikTok reaches 11%.
For a small business, this means picking channels by who your customers are, not by which platform is in the news. Facebook still reaches more adults in every age group over 30 than Instagram or TikTok, and women use Facebook, Instagram and TikTok more than men do.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- Pew Research Center, Social Media Fact Sheet (Americans' Use of Social Media in 2026)
- Sample
- National Public Opinion Reference Survey: 5,511 US adults, online, by mail or by phone, 30 January to 18 June 2026.
- Definition
- Share of adults who say they ever use each site or app. Not daily use and not time spent.
- Margin of error
- +/-1.8 points for all adults; larger for age and gender groups
- Released
- 19 October 2026
- Checked at source
- 31 October 2026, on pewresearch.org (chart data on the fact sheet)
- Next release
- Roughly yearly; Pew has not announced a date
- Last changed
- 30 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- Pew Research Center Survey
- Google and Alphabet official announcements (I/O keynote, earnings call remarks), Google / Alphabet Vendor data
Cite this page
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FAQ
More questions people ask
What is the most used social media platform in the US?
YouTube. 84% of US adults use it (Pew, 2026), ahead of Facebook at 70%. Among teens it is 92%.
Do more women or men use social media?
It depends on the platform. Women use Facebook (77% vs 63%), Instagram (56% vs 45%) and TikTok (43% vs 31%) more; men use X (23% vs 14%) and Reddit (27% vs 23%) more.
Is X (Twitter) losing users?
In the US, yes. 18% of adults used X in 2026, down from 21% in 2024 and 2025 and the lowest share in any Pew survey since January 2014.
Do older adults use social media?
Mostly YouTube and Facebook: 65% and 59% of adults 65 and over use them in 2026. Only 21% use Instagram and 11% TikTok.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (Pew Research Center, Google / Alphabet). Free to cite with a link to this page.