Survey shows that even after concerns about privacy, fake news and censorship, U.S. adults’ use of social media is the same as in early 2018

In 2018, Facebook Seemed to be involved in controversy after controversy — improperly sharing data with Cambridge Analytica, a September security breach and disseminating “fake news,” just to name a few.

A Pew Research Center survey conducted between Jan. 8 and Feb. 7 this year, however, shows U.S. adults’ social media use — including Facebook — is unchanged from a similar survey it conducted in early 2018. Pew Research Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C.

Adoption of social platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Twitter grew steadily until 2016, but that growth seems to have slowed. The exception is Instagram, which showed a slight uptick in users in 2019.

Facebook and YouTube are the top social media sites, with 69% and 73% respectively of adults saying they use the platforms. Facebook use is common across a range of age groups, the survey found.

Younger social media users tend to focus on Instagram and Snapchat. Of the 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed, 67% use Instagram and 62% use Snapchat.

Other social media demographic patterns are similar to last year’s data — women are more likely to use Pinterest than men (42% vs. 15%) and those with a college degree or who live in high-income households are more likely to use LinkedIn.

Many who use social media sites do so on a regular basis. Nearly three-quarters of Facebook users report going to the site daily (74%); about half visit it multiple times a day. The majority of Snapchat and Facebook users also visit the sites daily (61% and 63%, respectively). YouTube daily use has increased from 45% in 2018 to 51% in 2019.