Senior with technology, smartphone

The same two forms of social media are the most popular among those aged 65 or more years as those in younger age groups, according to recently released research from the Pew Research Group.

The big difference is, the No. 1 social media platform for those aged 65 or more years is Facebook, but Facebook is No. 2 for all other age groups (18 to 29, 30 to 49 and 50 to 64).

YouTube is the second most popular form of social media among those aged 65 or more years, but it’s No. 1 for all other age groups.

YouTube and Facebook have dominated social media use compared with other platforms measured by Pew since at least 2012, although their use from 2018 to 2019 among all age groups has been relatively flat.

According to Pew, the following percentages of adults aged 65 or more years used these social media platforms as of the beginning of the year, when the research was conducted:

  1. Facebook: 46%
  2. YouTube: 38%
  3. Pinterest: 15%
  4. LinkedIn: 11%
  5. Instagram: 8%
  6. Twitter: 7%
  7. Snapchat and WhatsApp: 3% each
  8. Reddit: 1%

Other differences exist in social media preferences among the various age groups, according to Pew, but results suggest that the same networks used to reach prospective residents also would be good for reaching their adult children.

For those aged 50 to 64, No 3. and 4 were Pinterest and LinkedIn, the same rankings as those aged 65+. For those aged 40 to 49, No. 3 and 4 were Instagram and LinkedIn. And for those aged 18 to 29, No. 3 and 4 were Instagram and Snapchat.