Social Media Usage by Age

Social media apps are on a lot of phones these days, but some tend towards a younger audience and others an older. Some are common across the population. Here’s the breakdown by age for American adults in 2021, based on data from Pew Research Center.

18 TO 29 YEARS OLD

30 TO 49

50 TO 64

65 AND OLDER

84% said they used at least one social media site.

81% said they used at least one social media site.

73% said they used at least one social media site.

45% said they used at least one social media site.

0% USED IN 2021

100%

0%

100%

0%

100%

0%

100%

YouTube

YouTube

YouTube

Facebook

Instagram

Facebook

Facebook

YouTube

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

Pinterest

Snapchat

LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Instagram

TikTok

Pinterest

Instagram

LinkedIn

Twitter

WhatsApp

WhatsApp

WhatsApp

Reddit

Twitter

Twitter

Nextdoor

Pinterest

Snapchat

Nextdoor

Twitter

LinkedIn

TikTok

TikTok

TikTok

WhatsApp

Reddit

Snapchat

Reddit

Nextdoor

Nextdoor

Reddit

Snapchat

0%

100%

0%

100%

0%

100%

0%

100%

Source: Pew Research Center / By: FlowingData

18 TO 29 YEARS OLD

30 TO 49

50 TO 64

65 AND OLDER

84% used at least one social media site.

81% used at least one social media site.

73% used at least one social media site.

45% used at least one social media site.

USED IN 2021

0%

100%

0%

100%

0%

100%

0%

100%

YouTube

YouTube

YouTube

Facebook

Instagram

Facebook

Facebook

YouTube

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

Pinterest

Snapchat

LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Instagram

TikTok

Pinterest

Instagram

LinkedIn

Twitter

WhatsApp

WhatsApp

WhatsApp

Reddit

Twitter

Twitter

Nextdoor

Pinterest

Snapchat

Nextdoor

Twitter

LinkedIn

TikTok

TikTok

TikTok

WhatsApp

Reddit

Snapchat

Reddit

Nextdoor

Nextdoor

Reddit

Snapchat

0%

100%

0%

100%

0%

100%

0%

100%

Source: Pew Research Center / By: FlowingData

Snapchat, TikTok, and Reddit tend towards a younger audience, as you might expect. Facebook most common in the oldest group seems right. Nextdoor likely rises with home ownership, so that seems to make sense. LinkedIn relies on employment, so the bump up at middle age makes sense.

I did not expect Pinterest to rise so high in the ranks with age. Scrapbooking?

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