Social Media Usage Statistics: Popular Platforms
Published September 15, 2026 · StatsGalore
Adults who said they ever use YouTube [1]
YouTube and Facebook had the broadest reported use among U.S. adults in Pew Research Center's 2025 survey. The question asked whether adults ever used each platform, which is different from daily use or the share of time spent on social media. [1]
The numbers
| Platform | Adults who said they ever use it | Source |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 84% | [1] |
| 71% | [1] | |
| 50% | [1] | |
| TikTok | 37% | [1] |
| 32% | [1] | |
| 26% | [1] | |
| Snapchat | 25% | [1] |
| X | 21% | [1] |
| Threads | 8% | [1] |
| Bluesky | 4% | [1] |
| Truth Social | 3% | [1] |
The platform percentages overlap
People can use several platforms. The rows are not mutually exclusive market shares and should not be added to estimate the percentage using social media overall.
Likewise, a person can report occasional use of a platform without having an active posting habit. The survey captures use as asked, not the intensity or purpose of that use.
[1]Reach is different from attention
A high ever-use percentage indicates broad reach among adults, but it does not establish how long people spend on the platform. A service used briefly by many people can have a different role from one used heavily by a smaller group.
The table also cannot rank platforms by advertising effectiveness, trust, satisfaction, or revenue. Each of those outcomes requires separate evidence. Reported adoption is one dimension of popularity.
[1]Adult data should not stand in for teen data
The survey covers adults age 18 and older. Teen platform use can differ, so these results should not be used to describe teenagers or school-age children.
Age distributions within the adult population can also shape each platform's national result. A platform especially popular with younger adults may have a smaller all-adult share because it reaches fewer older adults.
[1]Comparing platforms consistently
The table uses the same survey and reference period for all listed platforms. That makes it more consistent than combining self-reported use for one platform with company-reported monthly accounts for another.
Some platforms were not measured in every historical wave. A blank in the source's time series is missing information, not zero use. Pew also notes a survey-mode change in 2023 that matters for longer comparisons.
[1]Sources & notes
Pew Research Center Social Media Fact Sheet, survey of 5,022 U.S. adults conducted February 5–June 18, 2025. The measure is ever use. Rows overlap and do not describe daily users, unique accounts, or market share.
Source review: 2026-09-15. Article publication and underlying data dates are separate. How we use statistics · Suggest a correction