Internet use is nearly ubiquitous in Germany, but social media use is not. In fact, Germans stand out internationally for their relatively light use of social media.
YouTube and Facebook are by far the most used online platforms among U.S. adults. But TikTok’s user base has grown significantly in recent years: 33% of U.S. adults now say they use it, up from 21% in 2021.
Social media is playing a crucial role in Americans’ news consumption. Today, three-in-ten U.S. adults say they regularly get news on Facebook. Slightly fewer (26%) regularly get news on YouTube.
YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram remain the most widely used online platforms among U.S. teens. And teens are less likely to be using Facebook and Twitter (recently renamed X) than they were a decade ago.
YouTube is the most popular online platform among teens, with roughly nine-in-ten saying they use the site. And more than half of teens report using TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
Four-in-ten Americans who get news from social media say inaccuracy is the thing they dislike most about it – an increase of 9 percentage points since 2018.
In focus groups, highly engaged social media users describe the purposes that different platforms serve for them, their choices about what to reveal and how they try to anticipate any hostile reactions that could be lurking.