10 Most Social Media-Obsessed US States: California Surprisingly Not On The List
Oregon has topped the list of the most social media-obsessed states in the U.S., according to a new study.
For the study, digital marketing agency Hennessey Digital looked at the average monthly search volumes of each state for seven platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, over the last 12 months.
The firm ranked the states based on average monthly searches per 100,000 people and found that Oregon, Maine, and Massachusetts were the most invested in social media.
They are followed by New York, Washington, Virginia, and Maryland.
Georgia, New Hampshire, and North Carolina rounded up the top 10 most social media-obsessed states.
While a 2023 Influencity study showed it has the highest number of Instagram users and influencers among U.S. states, California did not make the list.
In Oregon, YouTube accounted for 38% of the state's 140,378 average monthly searches per 100,000 people, followed by Facebook and Instagram, according to the study.
On the other hand, the most-searched social media platform in Maine is Facebook, with YouTube and Instagram coming in second and third, the research found.
YouTube was also the favorite platform of the residents of Massachusetts, New York, Washington, Virginia, and Maryland.
Facebook and Instagram ranked second and third in terms of searches for all five states.
Hennessey Digital CEO Jason Hennessey, citing recent Statista data, noted that approximately 320.6 million people use social media in the U.S.
This is equivalent to around 94% of the U.S.' population of 341 million, according to Worldometer.
"It is interesting, however, to see that the most popular social media platform, according to the study, is YouTube, compared to other popular apps such as TikTok and Instagram; this may suggest that people are more interested in video-based content or, on the other hand, that people are less likely to have YouTube downloaded as an app, boosting online searches in turn," Hennessey said.
According to Hennessey Digital, here are the top 10 most social media-obsessed states and their respective average monthly search volume per 100,000 people:
1. Oregon - 140,376
2. Maine - 139,460
3. Massachusetts - 139,266
4. New York - 138,163
5. Washington - 136,373
6. Virginia - 135,893
7. Maryland - 135,875
8. Georgia - 134,690
9. New Hampshire - 133,911
10. North Carolina - 133,110
As of January, the U.S. has the second-highest number of YouTube users (239 million) after India (462 million users), according to Statista.
The U.S. also ranked second after India in terms of active Instagram users, with the former having 169 million users and the Asian country being home to 362 million Instagram users, the statistics portal reported.
As of 2023, India had the most Facebook users in the world with nearly 315 million, followed by the U.S. with 175 million.
