Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Americans are increasingly getting their news from social media. In Spring 2025, we found that a growing percentage of Americans say social media is their most important source of news. This increase is especially pronounced among audiences that are more engaged with the topic of global warming. This trend has implications for climate change communication: on the one hand, social media can support climate change outreach, but on the other, false news spreads more rapidly than true news on social media. Furthermore, social media platforms differ in their content, format, and approach to content regulation. 

In Fall 2025, as part of our biannual Climate Change in the American Mind survey, we asked a nationally representative sample of Americans (n = 1,146) how often they visit 14 different social media platforms. They were also asked how often they hear about global warming on social media.

Key takeaways

• Across Global Warming’s Six Americas, the most commonly visited social media platforms are YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
• The Alarmed hear about global warming on social media more often than other segments of the Six Americas.

Americans’ Top Social Media Platforms

We found that 94% of Americans visit at least one social media platform at least once per week. The most commonly visited social media platforms are YouTube (72% of Americans visit once a week or more often), Facebook (64%), and Instagram (46%).

Social Media Use for Global Warming’s Six Americas

We also investigated differences in social media platform use among Global Warming’s Six Americas – our framework for understanding the spectrum of Americans’ responses to global warming. In line with the overall results, across all six segments, YouTube and Facebook are the most used platforms, followed by Instagram. The segments do not differ in terms of whether they visit Facebook, Nextdoor, Pinterest, Threads, WhatsApp, or X/Twitter once a week or more often. However, the segments do differ in their use of all other measured platforms, including Bluesky, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Truth Social, or YouTube.

We also explored how frequently Americans overall, and each of the Six Americas, hear about global warming on social media. 23% of Americans hear about global warming on social media at least once a month. The Alarmed hear about global warming on social media more often than the other Six Americas segments. 43% of the Alarmed hear about global warming on social media at least once a month, followed by 23% of the Dismissive, 20% of the Concerned, 16% of the Doubtful, 11% of the Cautious, and 8% of the Disengaged.

Conclusion

These results suggest that climate communicators aiming to reach Americans with distinct views on climate change should strategically select social media platforms for their messages. Communicators can reach all Six Americas segments on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Communicators should keep in mind the importance of video, given the prominence of these platforms and LinkedIn (all of which are currently prioritizing video content). Algorithms within each platform likely expose Global Warming’s Six Americas to different climate information. As social media algorithms tend to show users posts based on their information consumption habits, preferences, and other personal characteristics, the newsfeeds of the Alarmed may contain more information supportive of climate action, whereas the newsfeeds of the Dismissive may contain more climate-skeptical information. Nonetheless, climate misinformation is common across social media – including many of the most popular online shows – making access to accurate climate information essential for informing the public about climate risks and solutions.

Methods

The results of this report are based on the Fall 2025 Climate Change in the American Mind survey (n = 1,146) – a biannual, nationally representative survey of U.S. public opinion on climate change conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. The data were collected from December 6 to 14, 2025, using the Ipsos KnowledgePanel®, a representative online panel of U.S. adults ages 18 or older. Respondents self-administered the questionnaires online in a web-based environment. Percentages are weighted to match national population parameters.

Group differences were tested for statistical significance using the weighted proportions and unweighted sample sizes of each group. The average margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points for all respondents (n = 1,146). Average margins of error at the 95% confidence interval for each Six Americas segment are:

Alarmed: +/- 6 percentage points (n = 286)
Concerned: +/- 6 percentage points (n = 304)
Cautious: +/- 7 percentage points (n = 192)
Disengaged: +/- 12 percentage points (n = 66)
Doubtful: +/- 8 percentage points (n = 160)
Dismissive: +/- 8 percentage points (n = 137)