With each new year, social‑media habits change, but a fresh look from the AI firm Socialprofiler shows that age plays a big part in how people use the platforms.
The company sifted through roughly 756 million accounts across X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok and found that older users are far more vocal about partisan politics than their younger counterparts.
Socialprofiler’s CEO, Tony Nosković, told The Post that many of the study’s results were surprising. “Political discussion isn’t a huge focus for young people,” he said. “Instead, their activity is mainly driven by activism that isn’t strictly political.”
The research examined the kind of content that different age groups engage with most. While Gen Z likes to share left‑leaning posts on progressive issues, Millennials and Gen X tend to turn to more traditional partisan material.
In other words, the loudest public debates are happening not among the youth but among those who grew up before the internet, using these sites as forums for ideological expression.
These findings echo other studies pointing to the tendency of older adults to dive deeper into online conspiracies. A 2025 Talker Research survey of 2,000 Americans aged 50 and older—commissioned by Centrum Silver—found that the average older adult spends 22 hours a week in front of some screen, scrolling through feeds.
A separate study from the University of Colorado Boulder reported that adults 55 and older are significantly more prone to share political misinformation than younger users, with partisan bias clouding their judgments.
The Socialprofiler team also linked age to the spread of unconventional theories. Older users were more likely to encounter content about UFOs, the Illuminati, flat‑earth ideas, and alternative knowledge.
Meanwhile, the younger cohort engages more with progressive causes such as climate change and LGBTQ+ rights and is drawn to more mystical or esoteric interests, like tarot, witchcraft or spiritism. The report suggests that different types of escapism appeal to distinct age groups rather than simply replacing faith with science.
When asked why older people gravitate toward conspiracies, Nosković admitted that the answer isn’t clear yet but hinted that future research will explore the topic further.
On the partisan front, Republicans dominate overall engagement on main platforms, though Democrats perform better among younger audiences, especially on issues like climate change and LGBTQ+ equality. The study used Twitter’s Black Lives Matter movement as a case study, noting a shift away from political content toward more general posts as the movement matured.
While overall religious affiliation has dropped among the young, Socialprofiler also found that some faiths, notably Islam, are gaining traction with youth. The company speculates that various spiritual explanations are gradually replacing traditional belief systems.
Platform‑wise, X is the primary arena for discussing politics, news and science. Instagram remains the preferred site for lifestyle and aspirational content, while TikTok is the hub for youth identity and self‑expression.
Socialprofiler’s “2025 State of U.S. Social Media” report marks its debut after two years of gathering extensive data across the online landscape. The firm didn’t analyze private accounts but estimates that roughly 65 % of social‑media profiles are public, with the remainder being private.
COO David Marohnik emphasized the breadth of the study, saying, “We look across platforms—from LinkedIn to Twitter to Facebook to Instagram. Usually, most people have at least one public profile.”
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