Social Networking on the Rise, Especially With Teens and Young Adults
Well, we all sensed this but nothing solidifies a theory like some hard data. Research conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project indicates that in 2009 73% of teens with internet used social networking sites compared to 47% of online adults.
Facebook Reigns Supreme With Adults
Adults hip to the social networking scene favor Facebook by a large margin. Older adults prefer it slightly more. According to the study 73% of all adults 18 and older who use social networking sites have a Facebook account.
In contrast, 48% of all adult social network site users have a MySpace account. The younger generation is much more apt to use MySpace, with 66% of social networking adults 18-29 having a MySpace account, but only 36% of the 30 and older bracket. Usage rates for the professional networking site LinkedIn are the reverse of MySpace. Fourteen percent of all adult social networking site users have a LinkedIn account, which breaks down to 7% of adults 18-29 and 19% of adults 30 and older.
Younger Tweeple are Tweeting
Microblogging and status updating sites are more popular among the younger crowd. Thirty-seven percent of online adults 18-29 use Twitter or another status-updating site, compared to 9% of 50- to 64-year-olds and only 4% of online adults 65 and older. The overall Twitter/status-updating site usage rate among all adults is 19%.
As Social Networking continues to grow in popularity in the older crowd, I am sure the amount of adults embracing Twitter will continue to increase. The concept of Tweeting most likely presents a learning curve for some, but after some experience on Facebook (already being embraced by adults) the concept of microblogging will become more understandable and justified after they have changed their status a few times on Facebook.
