Note: this blog post was originally published on July 31, 2013 and has been updated with data as of April 2014.
I was compiling this data for a client, and thought – how useful would it be if all of this demographic data (about which demographic groups in the US are using which social media platform) is in one place?
So here you go — up to date, referenced data for which demographic in the US uses each of the major US social media platform.
Most of the data below is from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project (as of Dec. 2012), otherwise there are references for each data point.
Platform Specific Data:
- Largest social network globally (based on active users)
- 1.11 billion Facebook users (globally)
- 71% of online adults in the US
- Women are more likely than men to be Facebook users
- According to iStrategy Labs, Although Facebook use is especially common among younger adults, there has been a significant decrease in the number of teens and young adults using the platform.
- There’s also a great article about the motivation of people who use Facebook and what they expect out of the platform from Pew Research Center.
Google+
- Largest US social media network globally (based on overall users)
- 1.5 billion Active users (globally)and while not all are active on the network, their presence on the network personalizes their search experience.
- 26.1% of women and 24.5% of men have a Google+ account.
- By age globally (from the Dec 10, 2013 Global Web Index Study): 16-24 (20.7%), 25-34 (24.9%), 35-44 (24.9%), 45-54 (17.8%), 55-64 (11.7%)
- Note that to comment now on YouTube you need a Google+ account
- 1.5 billion photos uploaded each week
- Most importantly, Google Plus generates much more brand engagement than you think. Recently Forrester studied more than 3 million user interactions with more than 2,500 brand posts on seven social networks. Brands Google Plus posts generated nearly as much engagement per follower as their Facebook posts — and almost twice as much engagement per follower as their Twitter posts.
LinkedIn:
- 300+ million users (worldwide)
- 22% of online adults are on LinkedIn
- 41% of LinkedIn visits are via mobile
- Over 1 billion Twitter users (globally). 255 million are active users.
- 44% of users have not sent a tweet and can be considered inactive.
- 18% of US Internet users.
- Those under 50, and especially those 18-29, are the most likely to use Twitter.
- Urban-dwellers are significantly more likely than both suburban and rural residents to be on Twitter.
- The fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55–64 year age bracket.This demographic has grown 79% since 2012.
- 70 million users (globally) (as of July 2013), 80% of users are women.
- However, male sign ups are one third of all new Pinterest sign ups (as of Nov. 10, 2014). And more men are on Pinterest than read GQ and Sports Illustrated combined.
- 21% of US Internet users.
- Whites, young people, the well-educated, those with higher income, and women are particularly likely to use the site.
- Equally popular among those 18-29 and 30-49 (19%). Women are about five times as likely to be on the site as men.
- 200 million users (globally) as of March 26, 2014
- 17% of Internet users
- Instagram adoption for users between 18 and 29 increased from 28% to 37% as of late 2013.
- Adoption by African American users has increased from 23% to 34%.
- Women are more likely than men to use the site, as are those under 50.
YouTube
- 1 billion users (globally)
- 122.7 million US visitors per month
- 59% of all Hispanics are on YouTube
- 55% of all women ages 18-54 are on YouTube
- 62% of all men ages 18-24 are on YouTube
- 54% of all teens are on YouTube
- YouTube reaches more U.S. adults aged 18–34 than any cable network
- 40% of YouTube’s traffic comes from mobile
Vine
- 40 million US users (as of August 2013)
- 3 of the 5 most retweeted Vines ever are from musicians
- No demographic information available
Foursquare
- 45 million users (worldwide)
- 1.6 businesses
- 6 million check-ins per day
- Of smartphone owners that use check-in services; 24% are Hispanics, 11% are African Americans and 10% are Caucasians
SlideShare
- 60 million monthly visitors (globally)
- No demographic information available
- 112 million unique monthly visitors (globally)
- 6% of online US adults are Reddit users
- 15% of male internet users ages 18-29 say that they use reddit, compared with 5% of women in the same age range
Does this match up with where you are distributing your messages on social? Are you spreading your message to the platforms that they are using? Or conversely, are you using platforms that are under utilized and could you instead spend more effort on the more popular platforms (like Google+)?
Hopefully you’ve found the list helpful to bookmark for future reference when building client online marketing campaigns.