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The latest Pew Research numbers on social media usage are out, and they present a fascinating look at the way people consume news across social media. The two standout social media platforms remain Facebook and YouTube, which are used by just about everyone. No surprises here.
However, usage across other social media platforms appears to depend heavily on demographic factors, including age, gender, income, and even political affiliation. That means you might be consuming completely different news than your family members, friends, and work colleagues without you even realizing it. Long gone are the days when everyone basically consumed the same news, and were able to agree on at least a few key points. No wonder things seem so polarized these days.
A snapshot look at social media usage
According to Pew, more than one-half (54%) of U.S. adults now get their news from social media at least part of the time. And one-third get their news from two primary sources: Facebook and YouTube. After that, the next main tier of news providers include Instagram, TikTok, and X. The final tier of news providers include all the secondary social media platforms, such as Reddit, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.
But here’s where things get interesting. Women and men don’t appear to be using social media the same way. You’d expect that roughly half the users for a specific social media platform would be women, and the other half men, right? But that’s not the way things play out. Women, for example, are most likely to be found on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Men, on the other hand, seem to prefer Reddit, X, Rumble, Twitch, and YouTube.
As expected, simply having a college degree makes you more likely to be a LinkedIn user. And being a younger user in the 18-to-25 demographic makes you much more likely to be using TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. This is not so surprising, given all the headlines about brands, companies, and politicians veering off into TikTok in order to reach young people.
But here’s something that is surprising – you can tell a lot about which social media platform people are using simply by knowing their political affiliation, So, for example, 88% of the users on Truth Social – a social media platform championed by Donald Trump – are firmly in the Republican camp. The same preponderance of Republicans is also found on Rumble, which has emerged as a free speech alternative for people who think they are being silenced on YouTube for their views. Democrats, on the other hand, appear to be clustering on Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp.
Takeaways for digital marketers
Based on the Pew Research data, there appear to be several actionable takeaways for brands, product marketers, and even politicians. If you’re having trouble attracting young users and influencers, head to TikTok. If you want to hit the female demographic, then you might want to focus on Facebook and Instagram. And if you want to hit the college-educated, upwardly mobile crowd, LinkedIn has plenty of appeal.
All of this begs a question for Pew Research: Why not do a follow-up experiment, in which you attempt to find out how much perceptions of the news vary across different social media platforms? If someone spends all day on Rumble and Truth Social, for example, how will their perceptions of the news change if they are forced to spend 24 hours on Instagram or TikTok? How this question gets answered might just determine the future of digital marketing campaigns for years to come.
