{"id":95241,"date":"2011-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2011\/08\/26\/65-of-online-adults-use-social-networking-sites-2\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:13:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:13:27","slug":"65-of-online-adults-use-social-networking-sites-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/2011\/08\/26\/65-of-online-adults-use-social-networking-sites-2\/","title":{"rendered":"65% of online adults use social networking sites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" align=\"center\"> <strong>Half of all U.S. adults now use social networking sites <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" align=\"center\"> <strong>Baby Boomers are increasing their use of the sites and older Americans are still coming aboard<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON (AUGUST 26, 2011) \u2013\u00a0 Fully\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/Reports\/2011\/Social-Networking-Sites.aspx\">65% of adult internet users now say they use a social networking<\/a> site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 61% one year ago. This marks the first time in Pew Internet surveys that 50% of all adults use social networking sites. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These figures come from a new national survey by the Pew Research Center\u2019s Internet &amp; American Life Project and mark a dramatic increase from the first time the Project surveyed about social networking sites in February of 2005. At that time just 8% of internet users or 5% of all adults said they used them.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" align=\"center\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"381\" alt=\"SNS use over time\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/media\/Infographics\/Report%20Infographics\/2011\/22%20-%20SNS%20Update\/SNS%20over%20time.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among internet users, social networking sites are most popular with women and young adults, but most of the growth over the past year came from adults over age 30. Looking at overall usage, wired seniors grew their ranks the most over the past year; 33% of those ages 65 and older now use the sites, compared with 26% one year ago. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of May 2011:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>83% of internet users ages 18-29 use SNS, compared with <\/li>\n<li>70% of 30-49 year-olds <\/li>\n<li>51% of 50-64 year-olds, and <\/li>\n<li>33% of those ages 65 and older<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Looking at usage on a typical day, 43% of online adults use social networking, up from 38% a year ago. Out of all the \u201cdaily\u201d online activities that we ask about, only email (which 61% of internet users access on a typical day) and search engines (which 59% use on a typical day) are used more frequently than social networking tools.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The frequency of social networking site usage among young adult internet users was stable over the last year \u2013 61% of online Americans in that age cohort now use SNS on a typical day, compared with 60% one year ago. However, among the Boomer-aged segment of internet users ages 50-64, SNS usage on a typical day grew a significant 60% (from 20% to 32%).\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe graying of social networking sites continues, but the oldest users are still far less likely to be making regular use of these tools,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/Experts\/Mary-Madden.aspx\">Mary Madden<\/a>, a Senior Research Specialist with the Project and co-author of the report. \u201cWhile seniors are testing the waters, many Baby Boomers are beginning to make a trip to the social media pool part of their daily routine,\u201d said Madden.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" align=\"center\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"223\" alt=\"How people feel about social networking sites\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/media\/Infographics\/Report%20Infographics\/2011\/22%20-%20SNS%20Update\/SNS%20wordle%20450px.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a separate question, when social networking users were asked for one word to describe their experiences using social networking sites, \u201cgood\u201d was the most common response. Overall, positive responses far outweighed the negative and neutral words that were associated with social networking sites (more than half of the respondents used positive terms). Users repeatedly described their experiences as \u201cfun,\u201d \u201cgreat,\u201d \u201cinteresting\u201d and \u201cconvenient.\u201d Less common were superlatives such as \u201castounding,\u201d \u201cnecessity,\u201d and \u201cempowering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSocial networking sites continue to cement their place as a significant part of mainstream online life,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/Experts\/Kathryn-Zickuhr.aspx\">Kathryn Zickuhr<\/a>, a Research Specialist and co-author of the report. \u201cEven as some users find their experiences with social networking sites frustrating or overwhelming, most seem to view the services positively on the whole.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Women maintain their foothold on social networking site use, and older Americans are still coming aboard. 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