Infinite Dial Shows Which Social Platform Matters For Radio.

Social media usage in the U.S. has largely stabilized at a high level, but the platforms Americans use — and who uses them — continue to shift dramatically depending on age. And what demo a radio station targets increasingly dictates which item from social media menu its programming team should order.

The latest edition of Edison Research’s Infinite Dial finds 85% of Americans age 12 and older now use social media, equal to roughly 246 million people. While that overall penetration has remained relatively steady in recent years, the data shows audiences are increasingly spread across a wider mix of platforms.

Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform, with 68% of Americans reporting they use the service. Instagram ranks second with 54% reach, followed by TikTok at 42%. Reddit has also become a significant player, reaching 38% of Americans, ahead of Pinterest (35%) and LinkedIn (34%).

But the broader takeaway is that the social media landscape has become far more fragmented, with implications for station promotions. “Which platforms you’re on determines which Americans you’re actually talking to,” Edison VP Megan Lazovick said during a webinar presenting the findings.

Edison data shows the audience composition varies widely across the major social media brands when asking Americans which they use most often. Looking at overall platform preference across all users, Facebook remains the social network most often used by Americans at 40%, while Instagram and TikTok are tied for second place at 16%.

But the audience composition divide is clear when the data is broken down by age group. TikTok has become the dominant social platform among younger Americans. The study finds 29% of social media users age 12–34 say TikTok is the platform they use most often, ahead of Instagram (22%) and Facebook (16%). It is the first time Edison has recorded TikTok as the most-used platform among younger audiences.

“TikTok is the number one platform for Americans 12 to 34,” Lazovick said. “This is an excellent way to reach them.”

The picture looks very different among older users. Among Americans age 35–54, Facebook remains the dominant platform by a wide margin, with Instagram is a distant second. Among those age 55 and older, Facebook’s dominance is even more pronounced, with most users in that age group naming it as their primary platform.

The study also highlights how different platforms attract different audience compositions. TikTok’s user base skews younger and female, while Snapchat users are overwhelmingly under age 35. X tends to attract a more male audience and a higher share of users between the ages of 35 and 54. Facebook, meanwhile, continues to skew older.

Lazovick said the fragmentation has important implications for media companies and marketers trying to reach audiences online.

“The generational platform divide is important to understand,” she said. “If you are using social media as part of your audience reach strategy, you have to break out of your bubble.”

YouTube also continues to play a central role in the broader social and digital media landscape. The Infinite Dial reports that 91% of Americans age 12 and older say they have used YouTube at some point, while 84% used the platform in the past month and 78% say they used it in the past week.

Lazovick said the platform increasingly overlaps with several media categories, including social media, online video, and podcasting. That flexibility has made YouTube difficult to categorize within traditional media definitions. “YouTube is central to the American media landscape, and people use it in many ways for all types of content,” she said.

Download the report HERE.