Social Media Fact Sheet
Today YouTube and Facebook are the most-widely used online platforms. Explore the demographic patterns and trends shaping the social media landscape.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Today YouTube and Facebook are the most-widely used online platforms. Explore the demographic patterns and trends shaping the social media landscape.
In April 2021, we followed up with many of the same parents surveyed in March 2020 on their children’s use of technology and social media.
Smartphone users in emerging economies – especially those who use social media – tend to be more exposed to people with different backgrounds and more connected with friends they don’t see in person.
Roughly half of U.S. teens say they spend too much time on their cellphones, and two-thirds of parents express concern over their teen’s screen time. But parents face their own challenges of device-related distraction.
Many who use social media say they regularly see false or misleading content, but also view these platforms as offering new avenues for political engagement.
The share of 18- to 24-year-olds who report having used online dating has nearly tripled in the past two years, while usage among 55- to 64-year-olds has doubled.
Nearly two-thirds of American adults (65%) use social networking sites, up from 7% when Pew Research Center began tracking social media usage in 2005.
36% of adult smartphone owners use messaging apps, while 17% use apps that automatically delete sent messages. These types of apps are adding to an already complex terrain of digital and social communication. Meanwhile, social media platforms continue to attract dedicated users.
In November 2010, 8% of online adults used the platform. As of January 2014, 19% of online adults were using Twitter.
The overall verdict: The internet has been a plus for society and an especially good thing for individual users
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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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