Pew: Nearly 4 in 10 US Adults Are in an Online Community, and 15% Belong to Forums Like Reddit

Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, 19 October 2026.

Nearly four in ten US adults belong to an online community, and 15% are part of one on discussion forums such as Reddit, Nextdoor or Discord, according to a Pew Research Center report published on 14 October 2026. The survey of 9,750 adults, run from 26 May to 1 June 2026 through Pew's American Trends Panel, also found that about eight in ten members visit their main community to stay informed, for fun or for advice.

The findings matter to SEO teams because forum and community content now appears across Google Search, and Google has opened a dedicated pipeline for it. They show how many people are creating that content, how often, and why.

Key findings

• Reach. Nearly four in ten US adults are in an online community, rising to 48% of adults aged 18 to 29.
• Platforms. About a quarter are in a community on social media. Discussion forums come next at 15%, then video sites, online games and messaging apps. 5% are in one on hobby sites such as Goodreads, Strava, Ravelry or Letterboxd.
• Topics. Hobbies and local areas lead, at about one in five adults each. About one in ten are in communities about entertainment, video games or their profession. 8% are in one about politics.
• Motives. About eight in ten members or more say they go to their most-visited community to stay informed, for fun or for advice and recommendations.
• Unique value. About six in ten members say their most-visited community offers something they could only find online.
• Daily habit. 56% of members visit their main community every day, about one in five US adults. 74% say they post or share there.
• Churn. About a third of US adults have left an online community. Of those, 57% cite too much arguing and 43% harassment.

Measure	Share	Base
Part of an online community	Nearly 4 in 10	US adults
Part of an online community (ages 18 to 29)	48%	US adults aged 18 to 29
Community on discussion forums (Reddit, Nextdoor, Discord)	15%	US adults
Community on hobby sites or apps	5%	US adults
In more than one community	85%	Community members
Post or share in main community	74%	Community members
Visit main community daily	56%	Community members
Ever left an online community	About a third	US adults

Why this matters for search

Google has made forum content a defined part of Search. In October it published documentation for the UGC Fresh Data Program, which lets approved platforms that primarily host user-generated content, social postings or forum discussions send content and interaction signals to Google through a dedicated pipeline, separate from the Indexing API and normal crawling. Google says the programme does not guarantee that content will appear in Search. We covered the programme's launch and review process when it was announced.

Pew's data shows the demand side of that content. Information and advice are the leading reasons people visit communities, the same needs that informational and commercial searches serve. Pew also found that 68% of members knew few or none of the other members before joining, which suggests these spaces are built around topics rather than existing relationships.

Age shapes the picture. Adults under 30 are more likely than older groups to be in communities about video games, beauty, entertainment and hobbies, and 27% of them are in a gaming community, against 4% of those 50 and older. Brands whose audience skews young should expect more of their category conversation to happen in these spaces.

What SEO teams can do

1. Map the communities in your category. Hobbies and local topics lead participation. Find where your audience asks questions, and track which threads rank for your target queries.
2. Answer the questions communities ask. With information and advice the main motives, recurring forum questions are a direct source of content topics and FAQs.
3. Take part as a named expert, not a marketer. Pew found that too much arguing and harassment drive people away. Helpful, disclosed participation fits how members use these spaces.
4. Check eligibility if you run a community. Platforms with a high volume of UGC on stable public URLs can review Google's UGC Fresh Data Program criteria.
5. Segment by age. If your buyers are under 30, community presence is likely to matter more, given that 48% of that group belongs to one.

Conclusion

Pew's survey puts numbers on a shift SEO teams already see in results pages: a large share of Americans, and about half of young adults, spend time in online communities, mostly for information and advice, and many visit daily and post. With Google building a dedicated ingestion route for fresh user-generated content, those communities are both an audience to understand and a source of the content that competes for search visibility.

Questions and answers

How many Americans are part of an online community?

Nearly four in ten US adults, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 9,750 adults conducted from 26 May to 1 June 2026. Among adults aged 18 to 29, the share is 48%.

Where do online communities form?

About a quarter of Americans are in an online community on social media. 15% are in one on discussion forums such as Reddit, Nextdoor or Discord, and 5% on hobby sites or apps.

Why do people use online communities?

About eight in ten members or more say they go to their most-visited community to stay informed, for fun, or to get advice or recommendations.

How often do members visit?

56% of members visit their most-visited community every day, which Pew says equals about one in five US adults. 74% say they post or share there.

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