Gallup: Facebook use surging among older adults

The number of older Americans using Facebook has significantly increased, according to a new Gallup survey.

Although the percentage of people ages 18 to 29 using Facebook has actually dropped by 2 percentage points since 2011, older people have been using Facebook much more.

The largest increase found by Gallup was for adults ages 50 to 64, of whom 52 percent used Facebook in 2018, compared to 34 percent in 2011.

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The percentage of people 65 and older who use Facebook also increased from 18 percent in 2011 to 32 percent in 2018.

Younger people are still more likely to be on Facebook, though other adults are beginning to catch up.

Adults ages 30 to 49 increased their Facebook use by a more modest amount, but are just a few points shy of using Facebook as much as young adults.

Gallup found that 65 percent of people in the U.S. are active on the social media platform, an 8 percent increase from 2011.

The new figures come as Facebook faces scrutiny for its data practices after it was discovered that the data firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly obtained Facebook data on tens of millions of people.

The information on data usage comes from a Gallup poll that surveyed 1,509 adults between April 2 and 8. The margin of error for the poll was 4 four percentage points.