The most popular online activities of Millennials in the United States include social media and online shopping. Millennials had the highest social media usage reach among adults in the United States with Facebook, YouTube and Instagram being the most popular social networks among U.S. Millennials. Despite the ubiquity of social media usage, Millennials were also the most distrustful of ads on social media.
In terms of online shopping, Millennials again lead the pack – Millennials have the highest online shopping penetration rate with almost 85 percent of U.S. Millennial online users having made a purchase via any digital channel. Millennials are also more likely to purchase products through social media and to try out other new retail technologies such as visual search or voice commerce via smart speakers.
Millennials’ strong online usage is also part of their professional life: over half of Millennials believe that their job would be different without the internet and that internet access should be a human right. During a March 2019 survey, only 15 percent of responding U.S. Millennials stated that they could “definitely” live without the internet, whereas 21 percent stated that they “definitely could not” live without internet. Despite a strong affinity for all things digital, a large share of Millennials in the United is concerned about the vulnerability of their personal data and digital privacy.
