Who are young men paying attention to?
Understanding the global and domestic shifts in young men’s social views requires knowledge of who they’re tuned into.
In Young Men Research Project’s May 2025 survey, young men ages 18-29 in the U.S. were presented with a list of popular online figures and celebrities, then asked to rate their level of familiarity, liking, and trust for each individual. While the list does not exhaustively cover all voices young men are engaged with, it includes 28 names spanning podcasters, streamers, content creators, political commentators, entertainers, athletes, comedians, businessmen, musicians, and other prominent figures. Among the politically focused group, options spanned a broad ideological spectrum.
The YouGov sample was weighted to match Catalist’s turnout targets, reflecting a Trump +5 electorate: 34 percent said they voted for Trump, 29 percent for Harris, 1 percent for a third party, and 36 percent did not vote.
In full, options include:
Andrew Tate
Joe Rogan
Jordan Peterson
Elon Musk
Ben Shapiro
Charlamagne tha God
Dr. Umar Johnson
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
John Cena
Logan Paul
Charlie Kirk
Theo Von
Trevor Noah
Mark Cuban
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West)
Sneako
Kai Cenat
Adin Ross
Jake Paul
KSI
IShowSpeed
MrBeast
Hasan Piker (hasanabi)
Tony Hinchcliffe
Dean Withers
LeJuan James
Carlos Eduardo Espina
Christian Maldonado
We measured respondents’ familiarity with the listed individuals using the following response options: “Follow this person,” “Recognize the name but don’t really follow this person,” and “Not familiar with this person.” Chart 1 shows the most recognized figures, combining “follow” and “recognize” responses. Chart 2 displays the least recognized figures, showing those with the highest rates of “not familiar.” Chart 3 ranks the top ten individuals by following rate in ascending order. Chart 4 presents the individuals with the lowest follow rates, with the highest unfamiliarity at the top. The distinction between familiarity and following matters, as following implies a potentially higher level of influence.
Elon Musk achieved the highest overall name ID at 93 percent, followed closely by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena (both at 92 percent). In total, content creators and social media influencers comprised half of the top ten most recognized figures, including the Paul brothers, Andrew Tate, MrBeast, and Kai Cenat.
Carlos Eduardo Espina, a Uruguayan-American progressive influencer, had the lowest overall name recognition at 29 percent. In fact, the three least recognized figures were all Hispanic online influencers. Political commentators across the ideological spectrum showed disproportionately lower recognition rates, from progressive voices like Dean Withers and Hasan Piker to more conservative figures like Charlie Kirk and Sneako.
The most and least familiar figures generally aligned with those whom young men follow closest. Notable exceptions include the Paul brothers, who ranked high in familiarity but not in following, while podcaster Theo Von and business magnate Mark Cuban appeared among the most followed. For the least followed figures, the top ten list mirrors those of the ten least familiar, albeit in a different order.
The full results, broken down by demographics, are shown in the heatmaps below.
The heatmaps above provide a demographic breakdown of familiarity and following patterns across education, race, political affiliation, and age. The “younger group” is defined as those born between 2003 and 2007, while the “older group” refers to those born between 1995 and 2002. Darker shades of blue indicate higher recognition rates, and darker shades of orange indicate higher follow rates.
Clear disparities emerge across educational lines. While over half of non-college-educated young men fail to recognize Trevor Noah (53 percent) and only 11 percent follow him, 74 percent of college-educated young men know the South African comedian and 30 percent follow him. Similar gaps appear for Jordan Peterson (70 percent recognition among college-educated versus 50 percent recognition among non-college-educated) and Charlie Kirk (65 percent versus 44 percent).
However, these education gaps shrink for actual followings–just 7 percentage points for Peterson (22 percent college-educated versus 15 percent non-college-educated) and 3 points for Kirk (16 percent versus 13 percent). Educational disparities tend to dissipate for apolitical figures and internet celebrities. For example, John Cena boasts a 42 percent following among college-educated and 39 percent following among non-college-educated young men, while IShowSpeed shows a slight three-point advantage (25 percent versus 22 percent) among less-educated respondents.
–
Recognition gaps based on race are similarly pronounced. Dr. Umar Johnson–the psychologist and motivational speaker–shows 30-32 percentage point higher recognition levels among Black young men (73 percent) compared to their Hispanic (43 percent) and White (41 percent) counterparts, respectively. Radio host Charlamagne tha God and streamers Kai Cenat (88 percent) and IShowSpeed (78 percent) have similarly large recognition levels among Black men, with nonsignificant drop-offs in following.
Surprisingly, gaps widen for more mainstream figures like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena. They maintain 59 and 58 percent followings among young Black men, respectively, compared to 41 percent (Johnson, for both White and Hispanic men) and 37 percent (Cena, again, both groups). Ben Shapiro shows stronger relative awareness among White respondents: 21 percent follow him compared to 10 percent of Black men and 8 percent of Hispanic men. Joe Rogan’s popularity is remarkably consistent across racial lines, with follow rates ranging from 28 to 33 percent.
–
Notable gaps appear between younger (2003-2007) and older (1995-2002) cohorts. Charlamagne tha God has a 14-point familiarity advantage among older respondents (56 percent versus 42 percent), while IShowSpeed displays the reverse pattern with a 14-point edge among younger audiences (79 percent versus 65 percent). These gaps dwindle for actual following: older audiences follow Charlamagne tha God by just six percentage points more (14 percent versus 8 percent), while IShowSpeed maintains nearly identical followings across age groups (27 percent versus 26 percent).
Joe Rogan exhibits virtually identical familiarity based on age (1 point difference), yet the older segment appears to follow the podcaster at a moderately higher rate (34 percent versus 23 percent). Generally, established media personalities and political commentators have stronger followings among the older cohort, including Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, and Mark Cuban.
–
Political affiliation engenders some of the harshest disparities. Theo Von shows high polarization in name ID–Trump voters are 22 percentage points more familiar with him compared to Democrats (73 percent versus 51 percent), with a similar following gap (36 percent versus 16 percent). While Elon Musk maintains extremely high familiarity across partisan lines, Republicans follow him at nearly double the rate of Democrats (60 percent versus 32 percent).
Joe Rogan maintains over 80 percent recognition among both Democrats and Republicans (85 percent versus 81 percent), but Trump voters follow him at more than double the rate of Democrats (47 percent versus 22 percent). Interestingly, Trump voters generally report the highest following rates across personality types. This includes conservative figures like Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro, as well as more apolitical personalities (“The Rock”) and even left-wing figures (they follow Hasan Piker and Dean Withers at the same rate as Democrats).
–
In a subsequent analysis, we will examine how young men like and trust these different figures. While names like Ye (Kanye West) or Joe Rogan may be familiar and followed, this doesn’t necessarily mean young men personally like them or seek out their opinions.
