73% of Online U.S. Adults Use a Social Networking Site
Social Media
December 30, 2013 -- The latest survey from the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project shows that nearly three-quarters (73%) of online U.S. adults now use a social networking site of some kind.
- Facebook is the dominant social networking platform in the number of users (71%), but a number of users are now diversifying onto other platforms.
- Some 36% of internet users say that they use just one of the five social media sites specified in this Pew report (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn), while 42% use two or more of these sites. The remaining 22% of internet users have not adopted any of the five major platforms asked about in this survey.
Additional key findings:
THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYERS AND THEIR AUDIENCES
- As in previous Pew Research surveys of social networking usage, Facebook remains the dominant player in the social networking space. Some 71% of online adults are now Facebook users, up slightly from the 67% of online adults who used Facebook as of late 2012.
|
U.S. Online Adults Using Social Media Sites |
||
|
Social site |
2012 |
2013 |
|
|
67% |
71% |
|
|
20% |
22 |
|
|
20% |
22 |
|
|
16% |
18 |
|
|
13% |
17 |
|
Source: Pew Research Center, December 2013 |
||
- Overall, 42% of online adults use two or more of these social networks, while 36% use only one.
- Of those who only use one major social networking platform, 84% say that Facebook is the single site that they frequent, while 8% use LinkedIn, 4% use Pinterest, and 2% use Instagram and Twitter respectively as their sole social networking site.
FREQUENCY OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE
- More than six in 10 (63%) of Facebook users report going on the site at least daily -- with 40% checking in multiple times per day -- giving it not only the highest overall percentage of users, but also the most engaged. Just 14% of Facebook users say that they visit the site less than once a week.
- Instagram users visit the site nearly as frequently as Facebook users. More than half 57% of Instagram users access it on a daily basis, with 35% doing so several times per day.
- 46% use Twitter daily, with 29% checking in several times per day. However, nearly a third (32%) of Twitter users say that they check in less than once per week.
- The majority of Pinterest and LinkedIn users tend to log on once a week, or less often.
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Frequency of Social Media Use (% of Site Users) |
|||
|
Social Site |
Daily |
Weekly |
Less Often |
|
|
63% |
22% |
14% |
|
|
57% |
20% |
22% |
|
|
46% |
21% |
32% |
|
|
23% |
30% |
45% |
|
|
13% |
34% |
52% |
|
Source: Pew Research Center, December 2013 |
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SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM DEMOGRAPHICS
Pew finds 18% of online adults currently use Twitter, similar to the 16% who did so in 2012. As was the case in previous Pew surveys on Twitter use, adoption levels are higher among younger adults and African-Americans.
Some 17% of online adults use Instagram, up from 13% in late 2012. pew finds two groups in particular have experienced a notable increase in Instagram usage in the last year. Instagram adoption by internet users ages 18-29 has increased from 28% in late 2012 to 37% in 2013, and adoption by African American internet users has increased from 23% to 34% over the same time period. Instagram was acquired by Facebook in April 2013.
More than one in five (21%) of online adults use Pinterest, up from the 15% who did so in December 2012. Women continue to be the dominant users -- 33% of online women are Pinterest users, compared to just 8% of men. Pinterest users also skew slightly towards the affluent side – those in the highest income bracket are more likely than those in the lowest to use the site, as are those with a college degree or higher compared to those who have not attended college.
Some 22% of online adults are LinkedIn users. As a platform geared towards professional networking, its user demographics are unique from the other sites discussed above. LinkedIn usage is especially high among people with a college degree or higher, and among those with an annual household income of $75,000 or more. It is also the only social networking site measured for which usage among 50-64 year olds is higher than usage among those ages 18-29.
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Demographics Of Key Social Networking Platforms |
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|
Demographic |
|
|
|
|
|
|
All users |
71% |
18% |
17% |
21% |
22% |
|
Gender |
|||||
|
Men |
66% |
17% |
15% |
8% |
24% |
|
Women |
76% |
18% |
20% |
33% |
19% |
|
Ethnicity |
|||||
|
White, Non-Hispanic |
71% |
16% |
12% |
21% |
22% |
|
Black, Non-Hispanic |
76% |
29% |
34% |
20% |
30% |
|
Hispanic |
73% |
16% |
23% |
18% |
13% |
|
Age |
|||||
|
18-29 |
84% |
31% |
37% |
27% |
15% |
|
30-49 |
79% |
19% |
18% |
24% |
27% |
|
50-64 |
60% |
9% |
6% |
14% |
24% |
|
65+ |
45% |
6% |
1% |
9% |
13% |
|
Household Annual Income |
|||||
|
< $30K |
76% |
17% |
18% |
15% |
12% |
|
$30-49 |
76% |
18% |
20% |
21% |
13% |
|
$50-74 |
68% |
15% |
15% |
21% |
22% |
|
$75K + |
69% |
19% |
16% |
27% |
38% |
|
Source: Pew Research Center, December 2013 |
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About: This Pew report is based on the findings of a survey on Americans' use of the Internet. The results in this report are based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International from August 7 to September 16, 2013, among a sample of 1,801 adults, age 18 and older. Telephone interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by landline (901) and cell phone (900, including 482 without a landline phone). For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling is +/- 2.6 percentage points. For results based on Internet users (n=1,445), the margin of sampling error is +/- 2.9 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting telephone surveys may introduce some error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.
Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet Project, Social Media Update 2013, Dec. 30, 2013.
