Who Uses Social Networks?

A few days ago I quoted some stats from the Pew Internet & American Life Project regarding Facebook use. Today we'll look at some of the other interesting tidbits that came from the studio regarding social networking. It really gives you a good idea of exactly who is using the most popular social networks.

• 92% of those that use social networking use Facebook, 29% participate on MySpace, 18% are on LinkedIn and 13% use Twitter.

• Overall social networking usage has nearly doubled from 2008  to 2010.  Back in 2008 26% of adults were utilizing a social networking service (SNS) whereas 47% of adults were using a SNS in 2010.

• Only 18% of Internet users over the age of 35 used a social networking service in 2008, but by 2010 that number was up to 48%.  

• The average age of an adult SNS user jumped from 33 years old in 2008 to 38 years old in 2010

• Social networking users skew female. A notable change showed the discrepancy actually grew from 6% more females in 2008 to 12% more female social networking users in 2010.

• The average MySpace user (32 years old)  is younger than both the average Facebook user (38) or Twitter (33) user.  LinkedIn skews the highest out of all the networks with users having an average age of 40.

• LinkedIn is the only social network that has more men than women and the disparity is rather large, with men nearly doubling the number of women.  Twitter, on the other hand, is almost exactly the opposite of LinkedIn with woman making up 64% of the total users.

• African-American users have the lowest presence on LinkedIn, making up only 2% of the total users. The highest saturation of African Americans is on MySpace with 16% of the total users.

• Hispanic users are not prominent on social networking services either. LinkedIn is comprised of only 4% Hispanics, compared to the approximate 14.5% Hispanic makeup of the national population. Hispanics do however make up 12% of both the Twitter and MySpace user base.

• LinkedIn is far and away the most saturated site when it comes to white users, who make up a whopping 85% of the user base.

• While Twitter finished in last place out of the four main sites, the frequency of use of Twitter is quite high. Facebook  leads the pack in frequency of use with 52% of users checking at least once a day, but Twitter is close behind with 33% of users checking in on a daily basis.

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