Facebook Keeps Its Hold as Most Used and Most Profitable
Facebook is still the most dominant social media platform in the country. Eighty-six percent of Americans use it. Among Boomers and Millennials, the usage rate is almost identical, both at 87 percent. Gen Z leads slightly at 90 percent. Gen X follows at 82 percent.
People spend time there. A lot of it. On average, users are spending two hours a day on Facebook. For Gen Z and Millennials, that goes up to two hours and twelve minutes. Boomers use it less but still average just over ninety minutes a day.
It’s not just for scrolling. People are shopping there too. The average user spent $133 on Facebook Marketplace last month. That’s the highest among all platforms.
Most users don’t post much. Only 7 percent said they share content regularly. Others interact sometimes, but 43 percent mostly scroll. They view, but don’t engage.
TikTok Grabs the Most Time per Day
TikTok has grown, but its reach still doesn’t match Facebook. Fifty-six percent of Americans use it. Among Gen Z, that number jumps to 79 percent. Millennials come in at 58 percent. Gen X trails at 45 percent. Only a third of Boomers use TikTok.
Even with fewer users, TikTok eats up more time. Gen Z users spend the most, averaging three hours daily. Millennials and Boomers both hover around two and a half hours. Gen X lands at two hours and twelve minutes.
TikTok Shop is also gaining traction. People spent an average of $40 on the platform in the past month. Millennials spent the most at $50. Boomers barely used it, with an average of $1.
What draws users in? About one-third said they use it to follow trends. For Gen Z, nearly 1 in 5 said they mainly use TikTok for memes and humor.
Instagram Leads in Reach but Not in Time
Instagram remains one of the most widely used platforms. Seventy-nine percent of Americans use it. Among Gen Z, the number is even higher, 89 percent. Millennials follow at 81 percent. Gen X comes in at 74 percent, and Boomers at 57 percent.
Average time spent is lower than TikTok or Facebook. Overall, people spend about 1.9 hours per day on Instagram. Gen Z again leads at 2 hours and 18 minutes. Boomers spend around 96 minutes.
Users go to Instagram for different reasons. One-third use it to keep up with people they know. Others use it to follow trends or browse memes. Among Gen Z, 26 percent go there for trends. About 11 percent use it just for humor content.
X Still Serves as a Key News Platform
X (formerly Twitter) hasn’t disappeared. Sixty-two percent of Americans use it. Among Gen Z, 73 percent are active. Millennials follow at 63 percent. Usage among Gen X and Boomers is lower, 56 and 51 percent.
Time spent on X averages 1 hour and 12 minutes daily. Gen Z stays longest again, with 1 hour and 36 minutes.
What keeps people on X? News. Thirty-seven percent said that’s their main reason for logging in. It’s especially popular for live updates and fast headlines.
Younger Americans Are Turning to Social Media Instead of Google
Search habits are changing. More people are using social apps to look things up. That’s especially true among younger adults.
For product reviews, 60 percent of Americans still start with Google. But Gen Z and Millennials are different. Over 10 percent prefer Reddit instead. Half of Gen Z doesn’t choose Google first for reviews at all.
Boomers have their own habits. Ten percent of them check YouTube before using Google to review a product. When searching for something specific, 48 percent of Americans still go to Google first. But one in three Boomers skip Google and go straight to Amazon or another shopping site.
TikTok has become a go-to search tool for Gen Z. One in ten of them uses TikTok to look up products. More surprisingly, 28 percent now turn to TikTok instead of Google for recipes.
Reddit, Discord, and Substack Are Getting Bigger
Community-focused platforms are also growing. Reddit is now used by two-thirds of Americans. Many join to talk with others who share the same interests. Others go there to read honest reviews. Among Boomers, 17 percent use Reddit first when checking out products, more than Google.
Discord is another growing app. Forty percent of Americans use it. Half of Gen Z is on Discord. Around 18 percent of users pay for access to at least one private server.
Substack is smaller but growing. Just over 20 percent of Americans use it. Among them, 26 percent pay for one or more subscriptions.
Pinterest Sees a Comeback Among Gen Z
Pinterest is attracting younger users again. Fifty-four percent of Gen Z adults use it. Across all ages, usage is 43 percent.
Gen Z uses Pinterest as a search tool too. Some even use it instead of Google to find recipes. Millennials lean more toward using Pinterest for tracking style or culture trends. One in five Millennials said that was their main use.
Offline Outreach Still Matters
Not everyone is online all the time. As some pull back from social apps, other methods of reaching them become more important.
Email is still effective. So are newsletters and printed ads, like flyers or posters. These offline channels remain useful, especially for people who’ve stepped away from social platforms altogether.
People Are Using Tools to Limit Social Time
Screen limit apps are part of the new pattern. One in four Americans uses a screentime tool to control how long they spend on social apps. These tools lock or block apps for hours at a time.
Some people have taken a bigger step. Sixteen percent quit at least one app this year. For many, that meant switching to a different one, rather than quitting entirely.
Only 1 percent of people in the survey said they’ve left all social platforms. None of them said they felt like they were missing anything.
Survey Overview
The data in this report comes from a nationwide survey conducted in May 2025. A total of 994 Americans took part. Half identified as male, 49 percent as female, and 1 percent as nonbinary. Ages ranged from 18 to 75, with an average age of 41. The study focused on how people use social media, how much time they spend on it, and how habits are shifting in 2025.
Notes: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools. Image: DIW-Aigen.
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