Digital content producers should be heartened by a study released Wednesday by Pew Research Center: It shows that 72% of all Americans have used social-media sites, a figure that has remained stable for five years. 

YouTube is the top social platform, utilized by 81% of consumers, up from 73% in 2019. Facebook, despite a wave of bad publicity, is next, chosen by 69%. In fact, 49% visit Facebook several times a day and 22% once per day, making it the leader in daily usage.

In contrast, Instagram is used by 40% overall, and Pinterest and LinkedIn by roughly 30% apiece. Snapchat claims 25% usage, and similar percentages use Twitter or WhatsApp. 

The big determinate is age.

Instagram is utilized by 71% of young adults and Snapshot by 65%. In addition, 48% in that cohort use TikTok. 

Drilling town to the 18-to-24 demo, 76% use Instagram, 75% Snapchat and 55% TikTok. But only 2% of consumers age 65 and older use Snapchat. 

YouTube is used by 95% of adults age 18 to 29 and 91% by those in the 50-64 group. But only 49% of those age 65 and older use it. 

Preferences also vary by race and ethnicity. For instance, 46% of Hispanic Americans use WhatsApp, versus 23% of Black Americans and 16% of Whites. 

In addition, 52% of Hispanics and 49% of Black Americans use Instagram, compared with 35% of White Americans. 

LinkedIn is more widely used by people with higher education, including 51% with bachelor’s or advanced degrees. But only 28% of those with some college and 10% of those with high-school diplomas or less. 

Separately, Reddit is now used by 18% overall, compared to 11% in 2019, making it the only site besides YouTube to post significant growth in that period. 

Pew surveyed 1,502 U.S. consumers from Jan. 25 to Feb. 8.