Posted on March 26, 2013

Social Network Popularity Varies by Demographic

Debra Askanase, Ragan, March 25, 2013

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently published “The Demographics of Social Media Users,” detailing the demographics of social media users by age, ethnicity, household income, gender, urbanity, education and platform.

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A few data points stand out:

  • Urban African-Americans aged 18-29 use Twitter and Instagram more than other demographics. While the study does not include Americans under age 18, I believe many high school students use both heavily.
  • Tumblr is a young person’s medium. Most users are aged 18-29.
  • Hispanics are heavy users of every social media channel. They are more likely to use social networking sites than Caucasians or African-Americans.
  • Urbanity plays a role. Slightly more social media users live in urban environments than suburban or rural ones. Significantly more Twitter, Instagram and Facebook users live in urban areas than other environments.

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Forty percent of all cell phone users in the U.S. access social networks from their mobile phones. African-American and Hispanic young adults aged 18-29 are far more likely to access social networks from their phones than older, white social network users.

MobilePhones

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For a quick glance at the demographic data, check out this interactive infographic compiled from the study’s results. For highlights of the Pew study related to social networking, Pew offers this summary.