It’s been more than 20 years since social media entered the public consciousness, with sites like Myspace and Facebook experiencing rapid growth at launch. Much has changed in the intervening two decades — including the equally rapid demise of Myspace. And today, that’s leading to shifts in how social media is being used and how we think it should be used. These changes are at the center of two recently released studies: The Infinite Dial 2025, by Edison Research, and the Pew Research Center’s updated Social Media Fact Sheet. Here are a few of the more interesting findings.
• Social media use continues to get more fragmented. As social media use has become more common, sites have proliferated. Where there used to be a “Big 3” — Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter — there are now at least seven consequential players. And while Facebook remains the most popular platform by far, being used by approximately 70% of adults, a cluster of runners-up fall short of majority usage. This is the direct result of increased fragmentation with sites gaining favor with specific audiences based on age (such as TikTok popularity among younger users), gender (Pinterest’s skew toward female users), and other factors (such as LinkedIn’s focus on work).
• X’s decline is proportional to its shift in its user base. As recently as 2023, Twitter was much more commonly used by Democrats (34%) than Republicans (20%). Today, in the Elon Musk era (maybe “error” is more appropriate) Republicans outnumber Democrats. And X/Twitter is the only major social media platform that has seen a sustained decline in users.
• None of X’s competitors has truly caught on. While X’s failings have left the door open for competitors, they haven’t gotten more than a couple of toes over the threshold. Bluesky, launched by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Meta-owned Threads, and mainstream alternative Mastodon continue to be fringe phenomena.
• Meta would be the biggest beneficiary of a TikTok ban. As of the writing of this column, the future of TikTok remains in doubt. TikTok saw a rapid rise, becoming one of the fastest-growing platforms, especially among younger users.
However, a potential U.S. ban has cast a shadow on the Chinese-owned platform. So, where would all those U.S. users go in the wake of a ban? The rich would likely get richer, with the vast majority of users spending more time on Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram.
• A ban on social media use among those under 16 is becoming more popular. Speaking of banning social media, perhaps the most eye-opening finding from these studies is that nearly half of the U.S. population age 12 and up believes social media should not be used by those under the age of 16. Not surprisingly, this idea is less popular with younger audiences, but not much less popular, with 41% of those 12-34 supporting such a ban. Republicans favor the restriction over Democrats by a wide margin (58% to 45%), as do slightly more women (51%) than men (46%).
It’s clear that we’ve come a long way in the past 20 years — so much, in fact, that many believe we might be better off without social media at all. And while it’s unlikely that social media will go away entirely, we’ll undoubtedly see even more fragmentation as new platforms emerge, more controversies, and more things we can’t predict.
However, by focusing on studies like the ones referenced above, it may be a little easier to separate truth from fiction — and to decide what’s worthy of attention and what’s better off being ignored.
Story Highlights Some professionals that were once revered by a majority or near majority of Americans have seen their trustworthiness tumble. dc072efd-88ea-4e83-9063-82d439b44b35
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