Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
YouTube experienced the most significant growth of any social networking app among U.S. users during the pandemic, the Pew Research Center reported Wednesday.
Google’s proprietary video service increased usage from 73% of U.S. adults in 2019 to 81% in 2021. This was followed more closely by Reddit, which increased the use of % of US adults in 2019 to 18% in 2021.
The findings come from a survey of 1,502 American adults conducted from January 25 to February. 8, 2021. The overall margin of error was about 2.9 percentage points.
YouTube’s popularity is especially high among 18- to 29-year-olds, with 95% of them saying they use the service. Of this age group, 71% said they used Instagram, 70% said Facebook and 65% said they use Snapchat. The study surveyed 220 people in this age group and the margin of error was about 7.3 points.
Facebook use remains high among Americans, with 69% of U.S. adults reporting visiting the social network. That figure, however, has remained relatively flat over the past five years, according to Pew.
The Pew report included TikTok and Nextdoor for the first time. The report said 21% of Americans use TikTok and 13% use Nextdoor.