Stacy Jo Dixon
Research expert covering social media usage worldwide
Facebook usage in the United States - statistics & facts
The beating heart of social media, Facebook, keeps people in the United States connected – which is what online networks are designed for. Concerns around its antiquated concept grow, with younger audiences expecting personalized, endless video content – something which Facebook is yet to deliver. Regardless, Facebook still stands tall, and American users remain loyal to the social network.
Facebook performs well as an app, with 64 percent mobile audience reach in the U.S., but it is shadowed by YouTube and Gmail with 74 percent and 65 percent reach, respectively. Short-form video platforms are drawing in users for much longer periods of time than Facebook, and as an app, the platform cannot compete with TikTok in terms of time spent. American audiences spent an average of 9.5 hours per week on TikTok and merely 3.8 hours per week on Facebook in 2023.
Overall, 30.1 percent of Facebook news feed content views by users in the United States came from posts published by friends. Additionally, 26.7 percent of news feed content views in the United States came from sources that were unconnected to the social media user.
Younger audiences are expecting personalized, endless video content, and Facebook is yet to deliver this specific need. Nevertheless, Facebook remains the market leader and American users are committed to the social network.
Facebook’s fierce competition
Starting from humble beginnings 20 years ago, Facebook is the market leader that other platforms try to catch up with. In 2023, 246 million people in the United States were using the social network. Additionally, Facebook accounted for almost half of all social media website visits in the United States in March 2024.Facebook performs well as an app, with 64 percent mobile audience reach in the U.S., but it is shadowed by YouTube and Gmail with 74 percent and 65 percent reach, respectively. Short-form video platforms are drawing in users for much longer periods of time than Facebook, and as an app, the platform cannot compete with TikTok in terms of time spent. American audiences spent an average of 9.5 hours per week on TikTok and merely 3.8 hours per week on Facebook in 2023.
Find me on Facebook
Facebook is often regarded as the social media platform for older generations, but the largest user bases are found with adults aged under 40 years. As of July 2024, 24.2 percent of Facebook users in the United States were aged between 25 and 34 years. Moreover, users aged 55 to 64 years made up the smallest share of the network’s audience. Additionally, women made up 53.8 percent of Facebook’s user base in the country. Facebook Messenger is also popular in the United States, and 23 percent of Messenger users were aged between 25 and 34 years as of July 2024.A go-to news source
Facebook is the leading social media network for news consumption among U.S. consumers. In 2024, 31 percent of Facebook users in the United States said that they used the platform for news, followed by YouTube, with 29 percent, and X (formerly Twitter) with 15 percent. In the first quarter of 2024, YouTube.com was the most widely viewed domain on the Facebook news feed in the United States, reaching a total of 145.9 million views. Overall, TikTok.com had 106.3 million content viewers, and gofundme.com reached 99.5 million.Overall, 30.1 percent of Facebook news feed content views by users in the United States came from posts published by friends. Additionally, 26.7 percent of news feed content views in the United States came from sources that were unconnected to the social media user.
Facebook’s advertising space
As of early 2024, advertising on Facebook possessed a reach in the United States of 71.3 percent. Advertising on LinkedIn had the highest reach in the United States among major social networks, with 82.2 percent. Facebook ads were more likely to reach women than men, reaching 74.6 percent of female users and 66.8 percent of male users. In addition, the most popular social media platforms among small businesses were Facebook and Instagram, according to a survey conducted in August 2023, with eighty percent of SMBs reported using Facebook to promote products and services.Younger audiences are expecting personalized, endless video content, and Facebook is yet to deliver this specific need. Nevertheless, Facebook remains the market leader and American users are committed to the social network.
