Survey Mode Shifts Warp Platform Trends

Pew’s fact sheet explicitly marks a change in survey mode beginning in 2023 (phone → web/mail/phone mixes) and cautions that small year‑to‑year differences may reflect methodology, not real changes in behavior. That means apparent rises or falls for specific apps around 2023–2026 (e.g., minor shifts in TikTok, X, Snapchat shares) could be measurement artifacts rather than true adoption swings. — Journalists, policymakers and researchers should treat small annual changes in platform shares with caution and factor survey‑mode effects into any narrative about social‑media rise or decline.