Social Media Statistics

You'll find below some recent statistics about social media and news intake in the US. These statistics and the sites that provide access to them can serve as a wall of reality to prevent us from falling for misinformation. Included at the end are two videos with information on how to spot a misleading graph and how to read statistics.

Statistics are great curiosity starters, prompting us to ask, 'why?'. Statistical data can be combined with other statistics, studies, and verified information to form broader conclusions that would answer our question. 

These two statistics from the Pew Research Center tell us similar stories: most people (teens and adults) in the US use social media. It's notable that YouTube is the first and second most used social media app in both demographics. 

These statistics don't tell us about the actual use or motivation to use these platforms. For US adults, one of these actual uses is news consumption.

News is not the only reason US adults use social media sites, with other uses including communication, connecting with friends and family, and entertainment. While I unfortunately don't have recent data on adult use of social media, Common Sense Media published a report in 2024 that sheds some light on the functional importance of social media as seen by teens and young adults. 

According to this report, staying up to date with the news is a significant function of social media for many respondents (70%), but is not the most cited reason. The majority of young people reported entertainment (89%), communication with friends (85%), and relaxing/unwinding (83%) as very or somewhat important functions of social media platforms. 

These statistics are perhaps not very surprising. If we break down survey responses by demographic and reported identity, we can gain some additional knowledge. For example, this report says that while 55% of all young people surveyed reported that social media helps them feel less alone, 74% of LGBTQ+ youth reported this feeling. Likewise, those who reported moderate to severe (66%) and mild (59%) depressive symptoms were more likely than those who reported no symptoms (48%) to say that social media is important to them feeling less alone. 

The Pew Research Center and Common Sense Media have released many reports on social media use and news consumption in the US for both adults and young people, and are both reliable resources for further research. 

You'll continue to encounter statistics, graphs, and charts on the internet. Below, you'll find a video on how to spot a misleading graph from Ted-ed, as well as a video on statistical thinking from Crash Course, both of which will support future evaluation of statistics and their representations.