Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that conducts public opinion polling on a variety of subjects including the ever changing social media landscape. From 2002 to the present, they have been at the forefront of the social media conversation with user driven insights and their latest findings are no different.

 

Social Media Usage Largely Unchanged From 2018 – 2019

According to a survey Pew Research Center conducted in early 2019, the percentage of US adults using various social media platforms remained fairly consistent compared to last year. After close to a decade of unprecedented growth in the medium, a decline was to be expected but it still begs a few questions. Have some of the older platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn reached their peak permeation? Will we continue to see 70% of adults on Facebook and around 23% on Twitter for the foreseeable future? The answer is likely yes. If the questions surrounding fake news and security issues on social media this past year haven’t moved the needle its safe to assume the public still on their respective platforms are here to stay.

The only exception to the social stagnation was Instagram which continued another strong year of growth to remain as the third most popular social media platform among US adults.

 

The Social Media Youth Divide Still Remains

When breaking down social media usage by age the generational differences in platforms becomes readily apparent. The 18-24 year old age group stands out from their peers in regards to Snapchat and Instagram usage. While Facebook and YouTube are strong across ages it is still important to consider your key audience when investing time and any resources into a social media campaign.

 

Facebook Still Owns The Daily Usage Crown

Roughly three in four Facebook users are visiting the platform at least once a day, up 10% over second place Instagram. While Instagram and Snapchat users also are likely to visit the platform on a daily basis and several times a day, the reach of Facebook still places it atop the mountaintop of engaging users on a daily basis. A third of YouTube users and a fourth of Twitter users responded that they are using their respective platforms multiple times a day.

You can find more Pew Research Center findings on social media here.