Social Media-Influenced Investing
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Within the securities industry, social media plays a prominent role in influencing investor behavior while providing opportunities for new forms of customer engagement and additional sources of data. The FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s 2025 study on how investors evaluate information indicates that 45 percent of investors receive financial advice from the internet and 24 percent reported getting their information from social media.2 In addition, 35 percent of survey respondents under the age of 30 reported relying on social media vs. 13 percent of those 65 and older.3 As more investors rely on social media for financial information, content creation related to investing has proliferated. In addition, market participants are increasingly seeking to harness social media data for market analyses and product development.

In light of these developments, FINRA staff launched a research initiative to assess the impact of social media on investing. As part of this research, we engaged with more than two dozen parties, including financial institutions, software service providers, academics, industry observers and government entities. This report summarizes the main findings of our research and is structured, as follows:

  • Section I provides a brief overview of social media’s impact on investing.
  • Section II identifies and analyzes techniques for leveraging social media used within the securities industry.
  • Section III addresses potential benefits and risks associated with social media-influenced investing.
  • Section IV outlines potential regulatory considerations.

FINRA’s research on this topic is intended to raise awareness among FINRA member firms and the broader securities industry by providing an overview of how developments related to social media-influenced investing may impact investors and member firms as well as the broader securities market. This report is also intended to facilitate continuing dialogue regarding developments in this space and to foster innovation in a manner that promotes investor protection and market integrity. Accordingly, FINRA requests comments on all areas of this report in Section V below.4