Age really is just a number when it comes to social media, as new research from Ampere Analysis shows that more than half of users ages 55 to 64 now watch influencer content every week.
This number is up by 10 percentage points since 2020. In the U.K., the figure has also risen over the past five years, from 30% to 38%.
TikTok and YouTube, in particular, are behind the growth—proof that Boomers’ social media presence is no longer limited to Facebook.
“The biggest surprise in our latest data wasn’t how popular influencer videos have become, it is how rapidly this trend has extended to older audiences,” Annabel Yeomans, senior research manager at Ampere Analysis, said in a statement on December 1.
That age group—55 to 64—delivered the highest growth in YouTube’s monthly viewing from the first quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2025, up by 25% in the U.S. and 14% in the U.K.
In the past year alone, TikTok’s monthly active users grew 6% in the U.S. and 16% in the U.K. among audiences ages 55 to 64.
The growing popularity of influencer content with older viewers comes as YouTube has established itself as a living-room viewing experience.
More than a quarter (29%) now use a smart TV monthly to watch YouTube, as smart TV ownership among internet users ages 55 to 64 in the U.K. and the U.S. is up 20 percentage points since the pandemic, jumping from 59% to 79%.
“As viewing habits diversify and platforms like YouTube and TikTok become part of living-room viewing, the lines between social and traditional platforms are blurring,” Yeomans said.
Streaming platforms have responded by partnering with influencers on premium content, as Netflix has with kids’ educator Rachel Anne Accurso’s Ms. Rachel videos and Amazon has with Molly-Mae Hague’s docuseries, Molly-Mae: Behind It All.
And yet, just 15% of older consumers globally feel represented in the advertising they see, according to GWI, jumping to 20% for those who follow brands or influencers on social media.
To fill this gap, the number of so-called granfluencers is also increasing. These older creators represent a fast-growing demographic of social media users, and thus are starting to catch marketers’ attention.
“New opportunities for collaboration across different platform types are emerging,” Yeomans said. “Streaming services are increasingly partnering with influencers, an approach that first attracted younger viewers and is now gaining traction among older audiences.”