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The World Wide Web turned 36 on March 12, 2025. In this relatively short period of time, "going online" has become an integral part of many Americans' daily lives – at work, at home, and at leisure. We now have a generation of consumers who never know life without being online, and even older segments of the population have incorporated the Internet into their routines.

From the PC as geek "toy", desktops, laptops, mobile phones and tablets have evolved into essential tools. Consumers routinely seek out audio and editorial content online. Ever-faster connections have led to the rise of online as a primary vehicle for video entertainment – to the point where the computer and mobile devices are now referred to as "second" and "third screens" respectively.

% of Adults 18+ Who Consider Media Type to be very trustworthy/trustworthy:

Radio - 85%
Newspapers - 77%
Television - 73%
Podcasts - 70%
Magazines - 70%
Social media - 49%

(Source: Katz Radio Group 2026 Media Trust Study)

Share of U.S. adults who say they use the internet almost constantly by age:
- 18-29: 63%
- 30-49: 54%
- 50-64: 33%
- 65+: 14%

(Source: Pew Research Center; 2026)

Percentage of U.S. adults who use different social media:
- YouTube - 84%
- Facebook - 70%
- Instagram - 51%
- TikTok - 37%
- WhatsApp - 33%
- Reddit - 25%
- Snapchat - 26%
- X (Twitter) - 20%
- Truth Social - 4%

(Source: Pew Research Center, Americans’ Social Media Use, October 2026)

Preferred social media of U.S. adults, based on living area:
- Urban - YouTube, 87%; Facebook, 67%; Instagram, 58%
- Suburban - YouTube, 86%; Facebook, 69%; Instagram, 54%
- Rural - YouTube, 78%; Facebook, 76%; Instagram, 40%

(Source: Pew Research Center, Americans’ Social Media Use, October 2026)

Percentage of U.S. adults who said they have purchased a product or service because of an ad they saw on social media, by generation:
- Gen Z - 50%
- Millennial - 38%
- Gen X - 42%
- Baby Boomer - 40%

(Source: YouGov Surveys, April 16, 2025 – May 13, 2025)

In 2025, the average time a user spends on social media is 2 hours and 21 minutes a day, which amounts to 35% of the day.

(Source: BroadbandSearch, Average Time Spent on Social Media Per Day in 2026, March 2026)

The average estimated holiday spend for daily Snapchatters across Christmas and New Year reaches $984, nearly doubling the $567 average outlay of nonusers.

(Source: Shopping Season and the Holidays, Ipsos/Snap Inc. 2026)

Gift-giving is protected within seasonal budgets, with 79% of Snapchat shoppers prioritizing gift purchases over all other forms of holiday spending.

(Source: Shopping Season and the Holidays, Ipsos/Snap Inc. 2026)

Compared to standard internet users, Snapchat users significantly over-index on premium seasonal purchases.

(Source: Shopping Season and the Holidays, Ipsos/Snap Inc. 2026)

For sports highlights, these are the most used social media platforms:

YouTube - 87%
Facebook - 69%
Instagram - 62%
TikTok - 51%
X - 41%
Snapchat - 27%

(Source: Crowd React Media, The State Sports Media 2025)

97% of U.S. adults say they have access to internet.

(Source: Pew Research Center, Internet, Broadband Fact Sheet, October 2026)

Percentage of U.S. adults who say they use the internet, by age:
- 18-29 - 99%
- 30-49 - 99%
- 50-64 - 98%
- 65+ - 89%

(Source: Pew Research Center, Internet, Broadband Fact Sheet, October 2026)

Percentage of U.S. adults who say they use the internet, race and ethnicity:
- White - 97%
- Hispanic - 96%
- Black - 93%
- Asian - 98%

(Source: Pew Research Center, Internet, Broadband Fact Sheet, October 2026)

Percentage of U.S. adults who say they subscribe to home broadband, by age:
- 18-29 - 74%
- 30-49 - 83%
- 50-64 -83%
- 65+ - 71%

(Source: Pew Research Center, Internet, Broadband Fact Sheet, October 2026)

Marketing leaders say social media drives:
- Awareness, 64%
- Customer acquisition, 60%
- Customer loyalty, 58%
- Revenue, 56%
- Decision making, 54%

(Source: Sprout Social, The Impact of Social Media Marketing, 2025)

67% of homeowners have usage of the internet.

(Source: 2025 MRI-Simmons Fall Doublebase)

79% of social media managers now use AI daily.

(Source: Social Media Trends, Hootsuite, 2026)

More than 30% of consumers say they’re less likely to choose a brand if they know their ads are AI-generated.

(Source: Social Media Trends, Hootsuite, 2026)

There is a vast difference between AI slop and AI-generated content.

Social media audiences aren’t rejecting AI outright — they’re rejecting slop.
Conversations around AI slop skew heavily negative, with more than half of mentions expressing frustration or dislike. The backlash isn’t about AI’s presence in content creation, but about outputs that feel repetitive, low-quality or obviously uncurated.

(Source: Social Media Trends, Hootsuite, 2026)

Adding imagery or video to social media posts makes them more dynamic and helps them stand out on feeds. Videos are one of the most engaging formats on social media, with members spending more time per post, on average.

Also, adding just one image to a post can lead to up to a 40% increase in reactions, comments, and reshares — with multiple images adding even more impact.

(Source: Social Media Trends, Hootsuite, 2026)

Social media platforms that drive the most business impact:
- Facebook - 70%
- YouTube - 68%
- TikTok - 64%

(Source: Sprout Social, The Impact of Social Media Marketing, 2025)

% of U.S. adults who say social media is __ for them to keep up with the news, by age:
- 18-29 - The most important way - 22%; An important way, but not the most important way - 53%; Not an important way - 24%
- 30-49 - The most important way - 13%; An important way, but not the most important way - 51%; Not an important way - 36%
- 50-64 - The most important way - 9%; An important way, but not the most important way - 42%; Not an important way - 50%
- 65+ - The most important way - 8%; An important way, but not the most important way - 33%; Not an important way - 58%

(Source: Pew Research Center, survey in June 22-28, 2026)

59% of consumers say they often or sometimes get news from social media.

40% rarely or never do so.

(Source: Pew Research Center, survey in June 22-28, 2026)

40% of U.S. adults say they regularly get news on Facebook, and 34% say the same about YouTube.

(Source: Pew Research Center, survey in June 22-28, 2026)

71% of sports audiences follow sports personalities on social media.

(Source: Crowd React Media, The State Sports Media 2025)

A total of 417 million cellular mobile connections were active in the United States of America in late 2025.

(Source: Data Reportal, Digital 2026: The United States of America, 2025)

In the U.S., there are 254 million social media identities, equating to 73% of the population.

(Source: Data Reportal, Digital 2026: The United States of America, 2025)

There were 324 million individuals using the internet in the United States at the end of 2025. Online penetration stood at 93.1%.

(Source: Data Reportal, Digital 2026: The United States of America, 2025)

Social media marketers’ greatest fears:
- Audiences shifting their social media usage to private/closed networks - 52%
- Company leadership not trusting my team to determine what content performs best on social media- 41%
- Managing a brand crisis on social media - 39%
- Burnout and creative fatigue - 33%
- Getting replaced by AI/Getting laid off because my organization doesn’t understand the value of my role - 32%

(Source: Sprout Social Index, Edition XX, 2025)

90% of consumers use social media to keep up with trends and cultural moments.

(Source: Sprout Social Index, Edition XX, 2025)

While half of consumers (50%) still see October and November as the ideal window for winter holiday campaigns, nearly half of consumers (49%) say they’re more likely to buy from a company that starts campaigns as early as August, and another 40% say early launches make no difference either way. Only 11% say it turns them off.