India — YouTube remains the most popular social media platform in the United States, a new report by the Pew Research Center has revealed. Facebook takes the second place, followed by Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, according to the American think-tank’s 2021 survey report. Snapchat, Twitter, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Reddit are next in the list, respectively, while Nextdoor, a neighbourhood-focused platform, has also registered its presence in the list.
The Pew Research Center’s “Social Media Use in 2021” report reveals some interesting facts about the American social media landscape. While YouTube and Facebook continue to dominate internet culture, a trend that has been continuing over the past five years, the number of US adults using Facebook remained almost the same since 2018. YouTube, on the other hand, has reported an 8% growth in American users since 2019. Reddit is the only other social media platform that reported significant growth — registering a 7% rise in users since 2019.
Here are the top 10 social media platforms in the US, as per the Pew Research Center’s 2021 survey report (listed along with the percentage of US adults who acknowledged using them):
1 . YouTube (81%)
2 . Facebook (69%)
3 . Instagram (40%)
4 . Pinterest (31%)
5 . LinkedIn (28%)
6 . Snapchat (25%)
7 . Twitter (23%)
8 . WhatsApp (23%)
9 . TikTok (21%)
10 . Reddit (18%)
Nextdoor has also found a place in the list, with 13% of US adults saying they use the platform for connecting with users in the neighbourhood.
Age groups
Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok remain popular among young adults aged 18 to 29 years, according to Pew Center’s report. Facebook, although used by around 70% of the younger users, is also accessed by 50% of users aged 50-64. YouTube, being the most popular social media platform in America, has a fairly decent user base across all age groups, with 49% of older users and 95% of younger users accessing the platform.
Identities and demographics
Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are also popular across most demographic groups and identities, with the 2021 social media survey showing that Hispanic (52%) and Black Americans (49%) use Instagram more than White Americans (35%). This trend holds true for most other social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and TikTok, as well. Only in the case of LinkedIn were White Americans found statistically more likely to use.
Similarly, Pinterest is a social media platform preferred mostly by women (46%) over men (16%).
Growth
A particularly notable feature of the 2021 social media survey is the fact that the growth in Facebook’s userbase has plateaued over the last five years, even though it remains the second most popular social media platform for US adults. The situation is almost the same for Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, Snapchat, and WhatsApp, the userbase for all of which have remained statistically unchanged since 2019.
On the other hand, Reddit’s userbase has grown from 11% in 2019 to 18% in 2021. YouTube, has registered an increase in users from 73% in 2019 to 81% in 2021 among US adults.
Click here for the detailed report of Pew Research Center’s “Social Media Use in 2021” survey.