If you don’t visit Facebook at least once a day, you’re in a dwindling minority. Facebook still remains the most popular social media site by far, according to a new survey by Pew Research. While its growth has slowed as other social sites continue to grow in popularity, the level of user engagement on Facebook has increased nonetheless.
Facebook membership numbers since 2013 have been mostly static, according to the Pew Research study, which surveyed 2,000 adult Internet users in September. One notable exception is among older adults. For the first time since Pew has tracked these numbers, more than half of Internet users age 65 and up now use Facebook. Overall, 71 percent of Internet users are on Facebook, the same as in 2013.
Meanwhile, over the past year, each of the other popular social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn, has seen significant increases in the proportion of online adults who now use their sites. The number of users overall on Instagram has increased by nine percentage points and it has realized significant growth in almost every demographic group. LinkedIn has continued to grow among groups that already use it heavily, including professionals and college graduates. At the same time, Twitter and Pinterest have seen increases in users across a variety of demographic groups.
Several Times a Day
But for now, Facebook remains the king. Seventy percent of the people surveyed use the site daily, up from 63 percent in 2013. Forty-five percent visit it several times a day. Meanwhile, 49 percent of Instagram users and 17 percent of Pinterest users visit those sites daily, about the same as in 2013. Thirty-six percent of Twitter users visit the site daily, but that’s down 10 percentage points from the previous year.
While the 13 percent of LinkedIn users who engage with the platform daily is unchanged from 2013, the proportion of users who use the site weekly or less often has increased significantly. More users are logging on to the site, but do so less frequently on average.
The percentage of online adults who use social media sites has topped the halfway point — 52 percent. That’s up from 42 percent in the previous year, likely because there are a greater variety of sites to visit. Only 28 percent now make use of just one social media site, compared with 36 percent in 2013.
First Among Many
As it was in 2013, Facebook remains the most popular social media site among those who use only one: 79 percent of those who use just one site use Facebook. A significant majority of Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn users also use Facebook, more than any other site that’s part of a mix of sites visited. That variety is starting to run both ways, as there are more Facebook users this year who also use Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn than there were in 2013.
Lori:
Posted: 2015-01-10 @ 10:03am PT
Of course, once you get in the habit with these social sites, it’s pretty hard NOT to visit multiple times a day. I find myself on Facebook 5 or 6 times a day most of the time, just to keep up with friends and news. I find the little insignificant posts of what-I-did-a-minute-ago rather annoying. At the same time, I find tons of interesting news and other info… and often hear local news first on Facebook. I’m a fan.
Recommended article: Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.