Some new data about adults and digital social network use in the US and around the world:
Adults are much less likely than teens to have a profile on a social network website. About three in ten (35%) adult internet users age 18 and older have a profile on a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn. Meanwhile, teenagers are roughly twice as likely as adults to use these sites: among teens 12 to 17 years old, 65% have a profile on an online social network. Despite comparatively lower levels of social network use, usage of social network sites by adults has increased markedly over the past four years.
Back in February of 2005, just 8% of adult internet users had used a social network site. That percentage had risen to 16% by August of 2006, and as of December 2008 stands at 35% of online adults…
Social network users are equally likely to be men and women, and are also more likely to be young: 75% of online adults between ages 18 and 24 have a social network profile, as do 57% of wired adults between 25 and 34. Profile ownership drops to 30% among 35-44 year olds, 19% among 45-54 year olds, 10% among 55 to 64 year olds and 7% of online adults 65 and older. Similarly, social network users are also more likely to be students — 68% of full time students and 71% of part-time students have a social network profile, while just 28% of adults who are not students use social networks. Whites are less likely than African-Americans or Hispanics to have a profile on an online social network. Nearly one third 31% of online white adults have a social networking profile, compared with 43% of African-Americans and 48% of Hispanics…
Overall, adults tend to use social networks for personal reasons more than professional ones (89% primarily use them to stay in touch with friends) … Among adults, MySpace is the most popular online social network. Half (50%) of adult social network users age 18 and older are on MySpace, while 22% of adult social network users have an account on Facebook. Another 6% have an account on LinkedIn, 2% have an account on Yahoo, and 1% each have accounts on YouTube and Classmates.com. Another aggregate 10% of adult online social network users have profiles on other sites, including BlackPlanet, Orkut, Hi5 and Match.com.
More from A. Lenhart, Adults and social network sites. Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Twitter and similar services have been most avidly embraced by young adults. Nearly one in five (19%) online adults ages 18 to 24 have ever used Twitter and its ilk, as have 20% of online adults 25 to 34. Use of these services drops off steadily after age 35 with 10% of 35 to 44 year olds and 5% of 45 to 54 year olds using Twitter. The decline is even more stark among older internet users; 4% of 55-64 year olds and 2% of those 65 and older use Twitter. Given the youth of most Twitter users, it is not surprising to find that online Americans who live in lower-income households are more likely to use Twitter than more affluent Americans. Some 17% of internet users in households earning less than $30,000 tweet and update their status, compared with 10% of those earning more than $75,000 annually…
Twitter users are overwhelmingly young. However, unlike the majority of other applications with a similarly large percentage of youth, Twitter use is not dominated by the youngest of young adults. Indeed, the median age of a Twitter user is 31. In comparison, the median age of a MySpace user is 27, Facebook user is 26 and LinkedIn user is 40…
Along with communicating extensively via untethered (wireless) mobile devices, Twitter users are more likely to consume news and information on these devices as well. For many Twitter users, learning about and sharing relevant and recent nuggets of information is a primary utility of the service. While Twitter users are just as likely as others to consume news on any given day, they are more likely to consume it on mobile devices and less likely to engage with news via more traditional outlets…
More from A. Lenhart, Twitter and status updating. Pew Internet and American Life Project.
And the top 25 social network sites in January 2009 from complete.com:
And how social network site use varies by global regions (from Global Thoughtz):
...as well as the popularity of specific sites.
Thanks for putting together such a well researched and written set of articles on this site.
Keep up the great work!
Stu Fraser
New Zealand
Posted by: Stuart | 30 July 2010 at 05:34 AM
Thanks for the note Christine,
Each of the entries is followed by a link to the primary sources - two papers by Lenhart, then compete.com for the top 25 SNS and Global Thoughtz for the maps.
Posted by: Craig | 09 May 2009 at 10:41 AM
Hello,
This is a very interesting post, thanks for that!
I am currently working on my Bachelor thesis and I got to analyze the demographics of social media users. Can you maybe give me a hint where you found the
information on:
Some new data about adults and digital social network use in the US and around the world
I really appreciate your help, many thanks!
Christine
Posted by: Tine48 | 07 May 2009 at 02:47 AM