Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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Social Media

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Americans’ Use of Social Media in 2026

Today YouTube and Facebook are the most-widely used online platforms. Explore the demographic patterns and trends shaping the social media landscape.

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Online Community and Connection in America

Nearly four-in-ten U.S. adults are in an online community. These virtual third spaces can take many forms, like Facebook groups, online video games or fandom forums on Reddit.

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    The Long Tail of Hobbies Online

    Whether you’re into whiffle hurling, baton twirling or hair curling, chances are there’s someone out there who wants to help you learn.

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    Gov Gab

    USA.gov’s new blog is almost as fun as watching 1970s PSAs on YouTube.

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    Are our relationships defined by our online habits?

    Everyone has a friend or two who takes that much longer to respond to emails because they just don’t ever check their accounts, who don’t want to join social networks and who never pop up on IM and gmail-chat. What happens when you fall in love w…

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    Hobbyists Online

    83% of online Americans say they have used the internet to seek information about their hobbies and 29% do so on a typical day.

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    Online Worlds and Screen Time

    Social networks for younger kids – Are online communities and avatar-based social worlds encouraging obesity?

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    OMG Carl Kasell Wants to Be My Friend!?

    I logged into my Facebook account the other day to check on something, and I flicked over to my friend requests page after noticing that there was a new one. It was (allegedly) from Carl Kasell, NPR radio personality.

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    The Latest News Headlines—Your Vote Counts

    What would a world in which citizens set the news agenda rather than editors look like? A new PEJ study comparing user-news sites, like Digg, Del.icio.us,and Reddit, with mainstream news outlets provides some initial answers. The snapshot suggests both a drastically different set of topics and information sources.

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    YouTubers meeting lens to lens

    There’s a lot of ongoing discussion in the internet research world about how often relationships initiated online end up evolving into offline, in-person meetings.

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    Facebook Your Future Roommate

    Remember the anticipation you felt on your first day of college? Showing up to your dorm and wondering what your freshman year roommate would be like? You might have even spoken with your assigned roommate on the phone, and maybe you were wonder…

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