The Pew Research Internet and Life Project recently released results from a new study that illustrates the current state of the social web.
As of December 2012, approximately 67 percent of internet users have adopted at least one social network. More specifically, women (71%) have adopted social media than men (62%), and Hispanic/Latinos (72%) continue to lead usage when compared to white (65%) and black internet (68%) users.
It’s no surprise that Facebook continues to have the most usage. But Pinterest is about to give Twitter a run for the number two spot after growing more than 1,000 percent in 2012, according to Nielsen. If achieved, this would make the virtual pinboard site the fastest growing social network in history thus far. In addition, Instagram experienced positive growth, especially after Facebook acquired the network. As of December 2012:
- 67% of online adults say they use Facebook
- 16% of online adults say they use Twitter
- 15% of online adults say they use Pinterest
- 13% of online adults say they use Instagram
- 6% of online adults say they use Tumblr
As you would suspect, demographics vary by platform. For example, Pinterest users are mainly white women and skew towards the younger age set. However, men (17%) edge women (15%) out by 2 percentage points on Twitter, and African-Americans (26%) use the network more heavily than Hispanics (19%) and Caucasians (14%).
For additional findings, visit Pew Research.
