Social Media Statistics In The United States: (InMyArea.com)

In the United States, many of us have a love-hate relationship with social media. We enjoy keeping in touch with friends new and old, but others’ seemingly perfect lives sometimes leave us feeling inadequate. Plus, while we enjoy chatting with people we’ve never met, we’re not always certain they are who they claim to be. Some of us even get so into social media that we neglect in-person relationships.

But, oh! There is so much to love, whether you’re into Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, something else, or all of the above. Let’s dive into a world of stats on social media use.

Demographic Points of Interest
The Award for Most Popular Among Adults Goes to…
The Award for Most Popular Among Teens Goes to...
Most Americans Use Social Media and Other General Social Media Stats
Stats on Social Media Scams
Stats on Social Media and Politics
Stats on Social Media Overuse
Stats by Platform
References and Endnotes

Demographic Points of Interest

Pew Research Center released a slate of social media stats in April 2021. Each stat is insightful in its own way, but some especially stand out due to the clear demographic differences they show.

TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are popular among younger users, not as much among older users

Adults 18 to 29 years old like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat much more than people in older age groups do.¹

Usage of social media platform

Age 18-29	Age 30-49	The Difference
TikTok: 48% Snapchat: 65% Instagram: 71%	TikTok: 22% Snapchat: 24% Instagram: 48%	26% 41% 23%

Age 18-29

Age 30-49

The Difference

TikTok: 48%

Snapchat: 65%

Instagram: 71%

TikTok: 22%

Snapchat: 24%

Instagram: 48%

26%

41%

23%

Now, Pew surveyed adults only. What happens when 12-year-olds and teens join the mix? Edison Research and Triton Digital did a survey that includes results for people starting at 12. The similarities to Pew are clear even though the ages are grouped differently.

Social media used most often²

Age 12-34	Age 35-54	The Difference
TikTok: 14% Snapchat: 15% Instagram: 33%	TikTok: 3% Snapchat: 3% Instagram: 10%	11% 12% 23%

Age 12-34

Age 35-54

The Difference

TikTok: 14%

Snapchat: 15%

Instagram: 33%

TikTok: 3%

Snapchat: 3%

Instagram: 10%

11%

12%

23%

Pinterest holds more sway among women than men

46% of women in the Pew survey said they use Pinterest. In comparison, just 16% of men said they use it. That’s a difference of 30%.¹

Instagram is more popular with Hispanics and blacks than among whites

52% of Hispanics and 49% of blacks said they use Instagram. Usage among whites was 35%.¹

A higher percentage of Hispanics use WhatsApp compared with blacks and whites

46% of Hispanics are on WhatsApp in contrast to 23% of blacks and 16% of whites.¹

People with more education are likelier to use LinkedIn

51% of Pew respondents who have bachelor’s or advanced degrees use LinkedIn. Meanwhile, 28% of those with some college experience do, and 10% of those with a high school diploma or less do.¹

Nextdoor usage much higher in more populated areas City (17%) and suburban (14%) residents are more likely to use Nextdoor than rural residents (2%) are. The differences are marked although not surprising. Nextdoor aims to foster or enhance real-world connections among neighbors, local businesses, and public agencies. All three can be in short supply in the country.¹

The Award for the Most Popular Social Media Network Among Adults Goes to...

Facebook! *said confidently*

It’s no giant leap to name Facebook as the most popular social media network among American adults. For instance, Pew indicates that 69 percent of American adults use it.¹ Granted, Pew also says YouTube is the most used platform, with 81 percent of survey participants on it. We don’t doubt these results but are skeptical that all engage with YouTube for social media purposes in addition to video streaming. (Yes, YouTube can be considered social media! More on that here.)

Anyway, more on why Facebook is the most popular network:¹

49% of its users check several times a day (it’s 45% for second-place Snapchat).
22% of its users check about once a day (it’s 21% for second-place Instagram).
Facebook has a high percentage of users in practically every demographic category. It performs “worst” at 50% usage among seniors 65 and older. That is still a lot better than second-place Pinterest at 18%.
Even teens and younger adults tend to have Facebook accounts, although they may not check them too often.

Of course, when you survey teens, the popularity story changes quite a bit.

The Award for the Most Popular Social Media Network Among Teens Goes to...

Snapchat! *said a bit less confidently*

The teen popularity race is not quite as clear-cut as the adult one. It’s a close-ish call between Instagram and Snapchat with a dark horse in TikTok. In the end, we chose Snapchat.

In a Piper Sandler spring 2021 survey, 7,000 teens ages 13-17 named Snapchat as their favorite social media platform.³
Snapchat is the social media brand used most often by 15% of Americans ages 12-34, according to Edison and Triton. Their survey does name Instagram, at 33%, as the most used in this age demographic, but young adults are included in addition to teens.²

Facebook failed to rank as a top-three favorite in the Piper Sandler spring 2021 survey.³ In spring 2016, it didn’t rank either, trailing Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter.⁴

Favorite social media platforms among teens

Spring 2016	Spring 2021
Snapchat: 24% Instagram: 23% Twitter: 16%	Snapchat: 31% TikTok: 30% Instagram: 24%

Spring 2016

Spring 2021

Snapchat: 24%

Instagram: 23%

Twitter: 16%

Snapchat: 31%

TikTok: 30%

Instagram: 24%

Pinterest deserves an honorable mention of sorts. The platform’s popularity among teens increased during COVID-19, probably due to its embrace of DIY.⁴

Teens using Pinterest at least once a month

Fall 2016, 25%
Fall 2018, 23%
Fall 2020, 32%

Most Americans Use Social Media and Other General Social Media Stats

Most Americans actively use social media

The Pew survey indicates that about seven in 10 Amercians are on social media.¹ These results roughly line up with Edison’s results of 82 percent.² Edison’s research includes younger people, so it makes sense that the Edison percentage is higher.

Active social media users make up an estimated 82%, or 233 million people, of the U.S. population 12 and older in 2021. The percentage has stayed fairly steady since 2016.²
- 2016: 77% of the population was on social media
- 2017: 80%
- 2018: 77%
- 2019: 79%
- 2020: 80%
- 2021: 82% (estimated)
By comparison, just 10% of the population was on social media in 2008. The percentage more than doubled to 21% for 2009 and then again to 44% in 2010.²

34% of U.S. users say social media positively impacts their lives, while 17% cite negative effects. 45% say it has no impact and 4% don’t know.⁵

Facebook nets the most daily users¹

70% of Facebook’s users check at least once a day.

59% for Snapchat and Instagram
54% for YouTube
46% for Twitter

Facebook in good stead as “old guard”; TikTok is one newcomer to keep an eye on²

Brand awareness of TikTok has surged while Facebook’s remains consistent. In 2020, about 64% of Americans had heard of TikTok. In 2021, the percentage jumped to 86%.
Facebook remains the leader in brand awareness, with 93% in 2021 and 95% in 2020.
In 2020, 11% of the population 12 and older used TikTok. Contrast that to the bigger chunk, 23%, in 2021. Facebook’s usage remains steady at 61% to 63%.

U.S. adults also turned to Facebook during COVID-19

Facebook was the most used social media network in March 2020.⁶

Facebook 78.1%
Instagram 49.5%
Twitter 34.9%
Pinterest 32.1%
Snapchat 29.4%
LinkedIn 27.1%
TikTok 14.4%
Reddit 14.1%
Nextdoor 10.3%
Houseparty 3%
Citizen 1.8%
Other 1.2%
Don't use 7.7%

Near the end of the list, you may have noticed two platforms many people haven’t heard of. We’ll touch briefly on Citizen and Houseparty here since we don’t elsewhere.

Citizen, originally named Vigilante, surpassed more than 3 million downloads in 2020

Demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s death boosted Citizen’s numbers in 2020. For instance:⁷

In June 2020, it was the 11th-ranked free app in the Apple store and second in the News category (about a year later in May 2021, it was number 6 in News).
Average installs per day in June 2020 jumped to 12 times more than May 2020’s installs.

Among Citizen’s features, it offers:

Safety map you can add friends to (to know if they’re possibly in danger)
Real-time safety alerts
Updates on protests and natural disasters
Live breaking video
Ghost mode to keep your location private
24/7 access to trained agents for protection (for fees)

Houseparty was the fourth most-downloaded app during parts of March and April 2020

Demand for video-conferencing apps skyrocketed as much of the United States locked down during COVID-19. One of them was the face-to-face social networking app Houseparty. However, Zoom had the most downloads from March 26 to April 1 at 3.2 million.⁸

TikTok was second at 1.9 million.
Hangouts Meet was third at 1.2 million.
Houseparty was fourth at 1.1 million (about the same number as fifth-place Google Classroom downloads)

Houseparty in the U.S. was downloaded 8 times more in March 2020 compared with its 2019 Q4 weekly average⁹

In Spain, downloads were actually 2,360 times higher! (Yeah, this guide is U.S.-focused but wow.)

Houseparty is, “where being together is as easy as showing up,” according to its website. It even has a Fortnite mode.

More and more people in the United States embrace social media¹

Relatively few Americans were on social media in 2005. For instance, just 7 percent of folks in the 18-29 age group were. In comparison, 84% were in 2021. That’s a small jump up from 82 percent in 2011.

Among seniors 65 and older, the jump from 2011 is much larger, from 12 percent to 45 percent. Three percent were on social media in 2005.

Frequency of Social Media Use

The majority of Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube users check daily.¹

Facebook 70% check daily
Snapchat 59% check daily
Instagram 59% check daily
YouTube 54% check daily
Twitter 46% check daily

Facebook commands our time: A look at minutes spent on social media per month¹⁰

In 2018, we spent about 1,558 minutes per month on Facebook and Messenger. The time spent remained about the same in 2020 at 1,523 minutes. We spent less time on other platforms:

TikTok: 555 minutes in 2020 (no data in 2018)
Snapchat: 339 minutes in 2020 (no data in 2018)
Instagram: 312 minutes in 2020 (259 in 2018)
Twitter: 94 minutes in 2020 (56 minutes in 2018)
Reddit: 69 minutes in 2020 (59 minutes in 2018)
LinkedIn: 40 minutes in 2020 (29 minutes in 2018)

Facebook is a leading environment for cyberbullying

77% of respondents in a survey on cyberbullying said they experienced harassment on Facebook. Then there’s a big drop to 27% for second-highest Twitter. Then there’s:¹¹

YouTube 18%
Instagram 17%
Reddit 8%
Snapchat 8%
WhatsApp 6%
TikTok 3%

Stats on Social Media Scams

Social media scammers have myriad ways to take advantage of people. Many rake in thousands of dollars (or more!) from people across the world they’ve never met. For instance, they can feign romantic interest, friendship, need, or disability, or pretend to be someone’s child or relative who needs money. Stats from the FTC help paint the picture.¹²

The number of people reporting losses from social media scams has gone up thirteenfold between 2016 and 2020. The amount of money lost has increased by eight times.
In the second quarter of 2016, 1,200 people reported $7 million in losses. In the second quarter of 2020, 15,900 people reported losses of $56 million.
About half (48%) of the romance scams reported to the FTC originate from social media. They typically involve Facebook or Instagram.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased the numbers of scams and losses. In the second quarter of 2020, 2,621 people reported monetary losses compared with 2,208 in the first quarter (19% increase).
MLM and pyramid schemes increased fivefold from 2016 to 2020. Even from just the first quarter of 2020 to the second quarter, the number of reports increased from 387 to 824.
23% of complaints to the FTC about undelivered online shopping orders started on social media (9,832 of 43,391 reports in the first and second quarters of 2020).

Stats on Social Media and Politics

Just 9 percent of adult social media users in the U.S. frequently post about political or social issues.¹³

70% say they never or rarely do so. 20% say they sometimes do.
The reasons cited for not posting include not wanting content to be used against them, not wanting to be attacked, not wanting to cause offense, and not having anything to contribute to the dialogue.
Moderate Republicans are 15% more likely than conservative Republicans to rarely or never share social/political posts. Moderate Democrats are 21% more likely to rarely or never share.

Most political tweets originate from a small group of users

Pew Research looked at public Twitter accounts of adults in the United States between June 2018 and June 2019. Among the findings:¹⁴

The center classified political tweeters as those who tweeted at least five times over the study period, with at least two tweets relating to national politics.
31% of Twitter users fell under the “political tweeter” definition.
However, there’s a subset of political tweeters that the group labeled as prolific political tweeters. They qualified if they tweeted at least 10 times with at least 25% of the tweets touching on national politics.
Prolific political tweeters were more likely to identify as very liberal or very conservative. They were also more likely to contact elected officials, contribute to campaigns, and follow the news. For example, 92% of the prolific group followed the news often, while 58% of the general political tweeters did. 59% of infrequent tweeters did, and 53% of the non-political tweeters did.

Hispanic and black users more likely than whites to look up information on protests

Pew Research asked social media users about four potential ways to take political action:¹⁵

Post a picture to show support for a cause (36% had)
Search for information on rallies and protests in their area (35% had)
Urge others to take action on causes important to them (32% had)
Use hashtags related to a cause (18% had)

Pew found that blacks led most categories. For instance, 48 percent of black users posted a picture to show support for a cause versus 33 percent of whites and 37 percent of Hispanics. Hispanics did slightly edge out blacks searching for information on protests and rallies (46 percent vs. 45 percent, with 29 percent for whites).

Forty-five percent of black users urged others to act on causes important to them, while 30 percent of whites and 33 percent of Hispanics did. As for hashtagging, 33 percent of blacks used the tool, while 22 percent of Hispanics and 15 percent of whites did.

Democrats more likely than Republicans to take political action on social media

Let’s look again at Pew’s list of four potential political actions but from the perspective of political party:¹⁵

Posting a picture to show support for a cause (28% of Republicans did; 42% of Democrats did)
Searching for information on rallies and protests in their area (23% of Republicans did; 45% of Democrats did)
Urging others to take action on important causes (21% of Republicans did; 43% of Democrats did)
Using hashtags related to a cause (10% of Republicans did; 25% of Democrats did)

More younger users find social media important for political or social involvement¹⁵

58% of users 18 to 29 years old say social media is very or somewhat important when getting involved with political and social issues
43% of users 30 to 49 years old fall along these lines
36% of users 50 or older do

Stats on Social Media Overuse

Let’s face it: Social media (dopamine!) causes many people’s brains to light up like the Las Vegas Strip. Some of us stay glued to Facebook or Snapchat even when tons of notifications and messages make us late to work. Just how widespread is the problem, though? How many people feel addicted?

39% of adults report feelings of addiction or complete addiction to social media

In a ThinkNow survey, 39% of adult social media users in the United States reported feeling either completely addicted (9%) or somewhat/completely addicted (a separate 30%).

By age: The percentages peak in the 23-38 age group. 15% feel completely addicted, and 37% feel completely/somewhat addicted. Total: 52%. The figures are lowest among seniors 55-64 years old (1% completely addicted, 21% somewhat/completely for a total of 22%).¹⁶
By gender: Females reported more feelings of addiction, with 45% feeling at least somewhat addicted. For males, the percentage was 33%.¹⁷
By ethnicity: Hispanics reported the highest percentage of complete addiction at 11%. Another 29% felt somewhat or completely addicted for a total of 40%. Blacks had the lowest percentages with 8% feeling completely addicted and 25% somewhat/completely for a total of 33%.¹⁸

Social media is #1 thing to give up for Lent, according to Twitter mentions

OpenBible.info tracks Twitter mentions of what people give up for Lent. In 2016 and 2020, social media (including mentions of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and social networking) beat alcohol, fast food, chocolate, and other “vices.”¹⁹

Social media, 8.5% in 2016; 8% in 2020
Alcohol, 4.5% in 2016; 5.7% in 2020
Fast food, 4.2% in 2016; 2.1% in 2020
Chocolate, 3.7% in 2016; 1.5% in 2020

Teens and social media (over)use

16% of teens check social media almost constantly. Another 27% check hourly.²⁰
Teens in a Pew Research survey worry more about social media bullying than addiction. First, though, 31% said social media has mostly positive effects such as helping them connect with friends/family and meet others with similar interests.
- 45% said social media had neither positive nor negative effects.
- 24% said social media carries mostly negative effects such as bullying (27%), limiting in-person contact (17%), unrealistic views of others’ lives (15%), addiction (14%), peer pressure (12%), mental health issues (4%), and drama (3%).²¹

41% of teens admit too much social media use. 57% have tried to cut back.²²

Stats by Platform

In this section, we go over stats for well-known social media platforms. First up, Facebook.

Facebook

Facebook is popular among adults, not so much among teenagers.

Mark Zuckerberg launched “The Facebook” for Harvard students in February 2004. In 2021, Facebook turned 17.
Users spend about 18 minutes and 31 seconds on Facebook every day.²³
Facebook is ranked sixth for the most-visited page in the U.S.²³
77% of women use Facebook vs. 61% of men.¹
About 49% of Facebook’s users check several times a day. 22% check about once a day, meaning that about 71% check at least once daily.¹
Facebook has the most social media brand awareness in the United States. Among folks 12 and older, 93% know about it. In comparison, 89% are aware of second-place Instagram.²
About 61% of the U.S. population 12 and older used or will use Facebook in 2021. The percentages were 63% in 2020 and 61% in 2019.²
In 2015, 65% of social media users went on Facebook more often than other platforms. In 2021, that percentage dipped to 47%, the first time it fell to less than 50%.²
Facebook’s popularity among young people has decreased.²
- Among people 55 and older, 70% prefer to spend time on Facebook vs. other platforms, while 60% of the 35 to 54 set do.
- Just 21% of people 12 to 34 prefer spending time on Facebook vs. other platforms.
- Contrast that with 2016, when 62% of people in the younger age group used Facebook more often than other social media platforms.
- The most noticeable drop occurred between 2018 and 2019. In 2018, 57% of the 12-to-34 set spent most of their social media time on Facebook. In 2019, the percentage dropped to 29%.

As mentioned earlier, Facebook didn’t rank in the top three among teens 13-17 years old in a spring 2021 survey of 7,000 teens.³

Why adults and teens turn from Facebook²⁴

Rants or comments that got too personal contributed in 60% of cases
Negativity, 59% of cases
Political posts, 58% of cases
Privacy concerns, 57% of cases
Prefer other social media platforms, 47% of cases
Friends don’t post enough, 47% of cases
Mental health break: 39% of cases
Parents or relatives on Facebook: 31% of cases

Instagram

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger released Instagram in 2010.
Before that, Instagram was a fairly complicated app called Burbn. It was location-based, encouraging users to check in at places and post pictures, among other things. The only feature that took off was photo sharing.²⁵
Facebook bought Instagram, also called IG and Insta, for $1 billion in 2012.²⁶
The average Instagram user spends eight minutes and 45 seconds on the site daily. Instagram ranks as the 18th most-visited page in the U.S.²⁷

Instagram has 89% brand awareness among the U.S. population 12 and older.²
43% of Americans 12 and older are on Instagram, an increase from 41% in 2020 and 39% in 2019.²
36% of U.S. Instagram users use the platform to follow brands or companies. In contrast, 11% of Snapchat and TikTok’s users do. If you’re a brand looking for more visibility, Instagram is a great place to be.⁵

Instagram skews younger. Take a look at these numbers:²

70% of social media users aged 12 to 34 used or will use IG in 2021. In 2020, it was 68% and 66% in 2019.
Older users prefer Facebook. Still, a fair percentage are on Instagram. In 2021, 40% of users 35 to 54 were on it, with 17% of users 55 and older on it.
33% of social media users 12 to 34 years old spend most of their social media time on Instagram. Compare that with 10% of the 35 to 54 age group and 4% of the 55+ group.

Twitter

The online microblogging service Twitter was created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams.
In 2017, Twitter doubled the character count of tweets from 140 to 280. It started with 140 due to limits on SMS messages (160 characters) around the time of its founding. Back then, Twitter wanted users to have enough space to submit tweets from their phones while having their usernames fit.²⁸
On average, Twitter users spend 12 minutes and 43 seconds daily on the platform. It’s the 31st most-visited website in the U.S.²⁹
88% of Americans 12 and older have heard of Twitter. It ranks third in brand awareness behind Facebook and Instagram.²
23% of Americans 12 and older use Twitter.²
It seems that most Twitter users are male. As of January 2021, 61.6% of users 13 and older were male and 38.4% female.³⁰

Younger people like Twitter²

Twitter use has grown among 12-to-34-year-olds. In 2021, 34% are on Twitter compared with 29% in 2020 and 2019.
It’s also growing among 35-to-54-year olds. 25% use it in 2021 as opposed to 22% in 2020 and 17% in 2019.
Twitter use appears steady among people 55 and older. 10% use it in 2021, the same as in 2020. In 2019, 9% in this age group were on Twitter.
Since 2015, Twitter has been the social media platform used most often by just 3% to 5% of social media users. In 2021, folks were more likely to spend the majority of their time on TikTok than on Twitter (7% vs. 5%).
At first glance, it might seem promising that 15% of users 12 to 34 years old prefer to be on Twitter more than other platforms. However, it is a decline from 28% in 2019. TikTok, at 14% in 2021, may edge out Twitter before long.

Twitter Accounts with the Most Followers as of May 11, 2021 (in the millions, worldwide)³¹

1	Barack Obama	130,362,902 followers
2	Justin Bieber	114,457,648 followers
3	Katy Perry	109,573,532 followers
4	Rihanna	102,794,411 followers
5	Cristano Ronaldo	92,190,399 followers
6	Taylor Swift	88,937,122 followers
7	Lady Gaga	84,232,086 followers
8	Ariana Grande	83,306,011 followers
9	Ellen DeGeneres	79,005,670 followers
10	YouTube	73,282,722 followers

Twitter brands with the most user engagement per million actions such as retweets and likes³²

1	Bleacher Report	211.9
2	Scoompi	102
3	ESPN	84.1
4	Billboard	70.6
5	Barstool Sports	67
6	CNN	66.4
7	The Hill	42.1
8	XXL Magazine	40.8
9	The Dodo	39.8
10	The New York Times	33.9

In March 2010, Ben Silbermann, Evan Sharp, and Paul Sciarra co-founded Pinterest.
72% of Americans 12 and older have heard of it, and 31% use it.²
Pinterest users spend about five minutes and 39 seconds on the site daily. It ranks 87th as the most-visited website in the U.S.³³
24% of its users follow brands (a higher percentage than Facebook’s 19%).⁵

The Pinterest base is pretty steady²

36% of social media users 12 to 34 are on Pinterest, growth from 32% in 2020.
36% of social media users 35 to 54 use Pinterest, but that’s a decline from 38% in 2020 and 39% in 2019.
Among the 55+ set, 20% use Pinterest in 2021. It was 18% in 2020 and 21% in 2019.
Since 2015, about 4% to 5% of social media users have used Pinterest more than other platforms.

Snapchat

Snapchat was founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown.
It has 86% brand awareness among Americans, and about 28% use it. The latter represents a bit of a drop from 31% in both 2020 and 2019.²
A smaller percentage of 12-to-34-year-olds are using Snapchat in 2021 compared with the previous two years.²
- 2021, 55%
- 2020, 61%
- 2019, 62%
The reverse seems to be happening among users 35 to 54.
- 2021, 21%
- 2020, 19%
- 2019, 17%

Snapchat has seen declines among users 55 and older.²
- 2021, 5%
- 2020, 9%
- 2019, 7%

In 2021, 8% of social media users spent more time on Snapchat than on other platforms.² That percentage has waxed and waned over the years. It hit 14% in 2018 and was 4% in 2015. The detailed numbers for 2021 are:
- 12-34 age group: 15% spend more time on Snapchat than on other platforms
- 35-54 age group: 3% spend more time on Snapchat than on other platforms
- 55+: 1% spend more time on Snapchat than on other platforms

TikTok

TikTok was released in 2016 by ByteDance, a Chinese company founded by Zhang Yiming in 2012.
86% of Americans are aware of it, a big jump from 64% in 2019.²
The average user stays on TikTok for six minutes and 31 seconds every day. It’s the 63rd most-visited website in the U.S.³⁴

TikTok users trend younger²

23% of Americans use TikTok, a huge increase from 11% in 2020.
44% of users 12 to 34 are on TikTok, up from 25% in 2020. 14% of users in this age group choose TikTok more than other platforms.
16% of users 35 to 54 are on TikTok, up from 5% in 2020. 3% of users in this age group use TikTok more than other platforms.
6% of users 55+ are on TikTok, up from 2% in 2020. Just 1% of users in this age group use TikTok more than other platforms.

Reid Hoffman and team members from PayPal and Socialnet.com founded LinkedIn in 2002, in Hoffman’s living room. LinkedIn officially launched in 2003.
In 2016, Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.³⁵
LinkedIn’s users spend about 11 minutes per day on the site, a high number. LinkedIn ranks 23rd among most-visited websites in the U.S.³⁶
20% of its users follow brands (contrast that with 19% for YouTube).⁵
LinkedIn has 65% brand awareness among Americans 12 and older.²
22% of Americans use or will use it in 2021, the same percentage as in 2020 and 2019.²
- 23% of the 12-34 age group are on LinkedIn.
- 32% of the 35-54 age group are on LinkedIn.
- 15% of the 55+ age group are on LinkedIn.

Jan Koum and Brian Acton founded WhatsApp in 2009.
In 2014, Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion. (Facebook also bought Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion.)³⁷
On average, users spend three minutes and 12 seconds daily on WhatsApp.³⁸
It has 62% brand awareness among Americans 12 and older, lower than seven other platforms but growing. In 2019, its brand awareness was just 54%.²
21% of Americans 12 and older use WhatsApp, up from 18% in 2019 and 20% in 2020.²
- 26% of Americans age 12-34 are on WhatsApp, an increase from 23% in 2019 but a decline from 29% in 2020
- 24% for age 35-54, an increase from 21% the previous two years
- 12% for age 55+, an increase from 9% in 2019 and 10% in 2020

6% of Americans age 35-54 and 55+ use WhatsApp more than other platforms. The percentage is 4% for age 12-34.²

Reddit was founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, and Aaron Swartz. Ohanian is also well-known for being married to tennis star Serena Williams.
In 2006, global media company Conde Nast acquired Reddit for $10 million. It was a terrific deal, considering Reddit was valued at $6 billion during fundraising in 2020.³⁹
Reddit ranks seventh for most-visited websites in the U.S. The average visitor spends five minutes and 35 seconds per day.⁴⁰
36% of adults 18-29 in the U.S. use Reddit compared with 22% in the 30-49 age group.¹
Pew Research indicates statistically significant user growth for Reddit since 2019, going from 11% to 18%.1
23% of male adults in the U.S. use Reddit while 12% of female adults do.¹
52% of Reddit users in the U.S. check the site daily.⁴¹
Most Reddit users, 72%, use the site for entertainment.⁴²
- 43% use it to get news
- 17% use it to follow brands/companies
- 8% use it to enhance their professional network
- 5% use it to stay in touch with friends and family
- 17% use it for other reasons

YouTube

At first glance, it might seem like YouTube figures don’t belong on a list of social media stats. However, some people use it as social media. They can submit, like, and post content, post comments, and send friend requests and private messages.

Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim founded and launched YouTube in 2005 and 2006.
Google acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion.⁴³
Users spend about 18 minutes and 45 seconds on YouTube daily. It is the second most-visited website in the U.S.⁴⁴
More Americans use YouTube than use Facebook (81% vs. 69%).¹
Creators with more than 1,000 subscribers become eligible for Community posts, which allow more interaction between channels and subscribers. Video, text, GIFs, polls, and images are possible with Community.⁴⁵
36% of YouTube’s users visit multiple times a day, while 18% drop by about once a day. 45% visit less frequently.¹

Nextdoor

In 2010, David Wiesen and several co-founders released the first iteration of what would later be Nextdoor in Menlo Park, California.
Users spend three minutes and 37 seconds on Nextdoor per day. In the U.S., it’s the 160th most-visited website.⁴⁶
Almost one in every three U.S. households uses Nextdoor.⁴⁷
As touched on earlier, Nextdoor is significantly more popular in urban and suburban areas vs. rural (17%, 14%, and 2% user bases).¹
Five “neighbor” components make up Nextdoor: residents, local businesses, nonprofits, public agencies, and brands.⁴⁷
Knowing even just six of your neighbors can reduce loneliness, depression, social anxiety, and even financial worries, according to a study Nextdoor did with a few other groups. At the start of the study (which was global), one in 10 participants reported feeling lonely. At the end, one in 20 felt lonely.⁴⁸
Nextdoor made Time’s inaugural list of the 100 most influential companies in 2021. The social media platform’s traffic spiked 50% during COVID-19 and lockdowns. Virtual connections helped neighbors keep in touch as they searched for lost pets and COVID-19 vaccines, although concerns such as racially based profiling continued.⁴⁹
To counter racism, Nextdoor is trying approaches such as anti-racism notifications and no more Forward to Police feature. The company says that another measure, kindness reminders, has decreased racial profiling on the platform by 75%.⁵⁰

Parler

John Matze Jr., Jared Thomson, and Rebekah Mercer helped set up Parler in 2018.
Parler users spend three minutes and 32 seconds daily on the site on average. It ranks 1,280th among the most-visited websites in the U.S.⁵¹
40% of Americans have heard of Parler.² (A huge majority of its user base leans far right politically, which may limit brand awareness despite Parler being in the news. Various app stores have also banned and unbanned Parler.)
5% of Americans are on Parler.²

3% of Americans 12-34 years old are on Parler; 8% for 35-54, and 6% for 55+.²