A recent study published by the Pew Internet & American Life Project suggests that the growth in adult use of social networking sites is even more staggering than most think.
A December 2008 tracking survey found that 35% of adults now have some sort of online profile on a social networking site, up from 8% in 2005.
Around 65% of teenagers use social networking sites, but the 35% of adults account for many more users because adults are a much bigger segment of the population than teens.
The percentage of adults aged 18-24 with social networking profiles is 75.
Here is the whole breakdown:
- 75% of online adults 18-24 have a profile on a social network site
- 57% of online adults 25-34 have a profile on a social network
- 30% of online adults 35-44 have one
- 19% of online 45 to 54 year olds have a profile
- 10% of online 55 to 64 year olds have a profile
- 7% of online adults 65 and older have a profile
Adults using social networking sites far prefer Facebook to all other sites.
- 73% have a Facebook account
- 48% have a MySpace profile
- 14% have an account on LinkedIn
- 1% each are on Yahoo, YouTube, Tagged, Flickr and Classmates.com
- 10-12% are on “other” sites such as Bebo, Last.FM, Digg, Blackplanet, Orkut, Hi5 and Match.com
Most are still using social networking sites for personal reasons (89%.)
To read the full report, click to:
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/Adults-and-Social-Network-Websites.aspx
Women outnumber men using social networking sites 50% to 42%.
See more about that study here:
http://pewinternet.org/Media-Mentions/2009/Women-Outnumber-Men-on-Social-Networking-Sites.aspx
How do you use social networking sites? Do you see a business use for them? Please leave ANY comments you like in the space below…
(posted on October 14, 2009)
