YouTube is now used by a staggering 84 % of American adults, cementing its position as the most dominant social platform in the country, according to a major new Pew Research Center survey.
Facebook remains a distant second at 71 %, followed by Instagram at 50 %, while TikTok continued its rapid climb to 37 % — up four points in a single year — and solidified its grip on younger users.
The nationally representative survey of 5,022 U.S. adults, conducted February–June 2025, shows the full pecking order:
- YouTube – 84 %
- Facebook – 71 %
- Instagram – 50 %
- TikTok – 37 %
- WhatsApp – 32 %
- Reddit – 26 %
- Snapchat – 25 %
- X (formerly Twitter) – 21 %
- Threads – 8 %
Age gaps are dramatic: 93 % of 18–29-year-olds use YouTube and 65 % are on TikTok, compared to just 10 % of seniors on TikTok and 62 % on YouTube. Instagram (76 % among under-30s) and Snapchat (59 %) also skew heavily young, while Facebook remains the top choice for every age group 30 and older.
Women outpace men on Instagram (55 % vs. 44 %) and TikTok (41 % vs. 33 %), while men are more active on Reddit and X. Hispanics over-index on WhatsApp (50 %) and TikTok (48 %), and higher earners ($100K+) are more likely to use X and LinkedIn.
The data underscores America’s decisive shift toward video-first platforms, with YouTube and TikTok gaining ground while text-heavy X and Meta’s new Threads struggle to grow.