UsTube
While there’s a lot of talk about generational divisions in everything we do, from how we work to whether we switch subtitles on when watching TV, it turns out that there’s at least one great leveler across the age groups in America: YouTube.
According to a newly released Pew Research Center survey, which ran from May through September last year, the video-sharing platform is the most-widely used social media for every generation surveyed. Indeed, a staggering 93% of US adults aged 18-29 said that they use YouTube’s site or app, as well as 92% of 30-44 year-olds and a still substantial 60% of over 65s admitting the same. More generally, there are few signs of anyone becoming less addicted to their phones.
Indeed, most platforms saw significant rises in reported use amongst adults of all ages since the last time Pew Research ran a similar survey in 2021. TikTok, perhaps unsurprisingly, has jumped furthest in that time frame, with 33% of US adults now reporting using the platform, compared to 21% just 3 years ago. Interestingly, Facebook and X (or Twitter, as it was then) were the only platforms to show declines across the surveys.
The Pew update comes as the CEOs of 5 large social media companies, including X’s Linda Yaccarino, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Snap’s Evan Spiegel, testified in Congress earlier this week, pressed with questions on how they’re tackling child safety issues on their platforms.
