Social Media Penetration
Percentage of U.S. adults who say they use each social media platform, 2012–2025
YouTube is the most widely used platform among U.S. adults as of 2025
Facebook remains the second most popular platform, used by about seven in ten adults
Half of U.S. adults report using Instagram, up from 13% in 2012
TikTok usage among adults grew from 21% in 2021 to 37% in 2025
Platform Adoption Over Time
Comparative Dataset
Context
Social media adoption in the United States grew rapidly from the mid-2000s through the mid-2010s, with Facebook emerging as the dominant platform by 2012. YouTube overtook Facebook in overall reach after Pew Research Center began tracking it in 2018, and has remained the most widely used platform since. Instagram has shown the most consistent growth trajectory among established platforms, rising from 13% adoption in 2012 to 50% in 2025.
Twitter (rebranded as X in 2023) has maintained a relatively stable user base over the full tracking period, fluctuating between 16% and 24% of U.S. adults. TikTok, which Pew began tracking in 2021, grew from 21% to 37% between 2021 and 2025, making it one of the fastest-growing platforms during that period.
Methodological changes in Pew's survey approach—from phone-only surveys (2012–2021) to web and mail (2023) to a mixed mode of web, mail, and phone (2024–2025)—may affect direct comparisons across some data points. The overall adoption plateau visible since the late 2010s for Facebook and Twitter/X contrasts with continued growth for newer or more visual platforms.
Citations & Data Sources
- 01.
Pew Research Center. Americans' Social Media Use 2025. Survey of 5,022 U.S. adults, Feb. 5–Jun. 18, 2025
www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/11/20/americans-social-media-use-2025 - 02.
Pew Research Center. Social Media Use in 2018: Demographics and Statistics. Survey of 2,002 U.S. adults, Jan. 3–10, 2018
www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018 - 03.
Pew Research Center. Share of U.S. Adults Using Social Media, Including Facebook, Is Mostly Unchanged Since 2018. Survey of 1,502 U.S. adults, Jan. 8–Feb. 7, 2019
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/04/10/share-of-u-s-adults-using-social-media-including-facebook-is-mostly-unchanged-since-2018 - 04.
Pew Research Center. Social Media Use in 2021. Survey of 1,502 U.S. adults, Jan. 25–Feb. 8, 2021
www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/04/07/social-media-use-in-2021 - 05.
Pew Research Center. How Americans Use Social Media (2024 report). Survey of 5,733 U.S. adults, May 19–Sep. 5, 2023
www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/01/31/americans-social-media-use - 06.
Pew Research Center. Americans' Social Media Use (2024 update). Social Media Fact Sheet with 2024 survey data
www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media - 07.
Pew Research Center. Social Networking Usage: 2005–2015. Historical tracking data for 2012–2014 platform adoption
www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/10/08/social-networking-usage-2005-2015 - 08.
Pew Research Center. Social Media Update 2014. Platform adoption data for 2015
www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014 - 09.
Pew Research Center. Social Media Update 2016. Platform adoption data for 2016
www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016