pcmag | Social-networking sites
continue to hold the attention of most Internet users, especially women
between 18 and 29 years old, according to a new Pew Research Center study.
About 67 percent of Internet users take advantage of Facebook,
particularly those 20-something women, Pew found in a study that
examined the demographics of the most popular social networks.
Twitter tends to attract African-American, urban residents ages 18 to
29, for example, while Pinterest is more often used by white women
under age 50 with some college education.
Unsurprisingly, Instagram is popular with urban residents, as well as
African Americans, Latinos, and women between the ages of 18 and 29.
Pew attributed the popularity of social-networking sites to the
simple fact that Internet users under age 50 are likely to use social
media of any kind. Still, the majority of users fall into the 18- to
29-year-old urban female category. But while sex and age play a large
part in determining the demographics of the Internet, Pew found little
distinction between education and household income.
Once broken down by individual network, though, the numbers begin to
look a little different. Twitter has 16 percent of the social media
market, with 20 percent of its users living in urban areas and 26
percent identifying as African American.
Pinterest, on the other hand, depends heavily on a very white
upper-class society of women ages 18 to 49. Still in its infancy
compared to its social-networking siblings, Pinterest attracts only 5
percent of men, 18 percent blacks and Hispanics, 11 percent of those
with less than a high school education, and 25 percent of people
bringing in $50,000 or less per year — a combined number that barely
surpasses the 23 percent of those earning $50,000-$75,000 who use the
service.
Even Tumblr, with only about 6 percent of the total social media
interest, has an intense fanbase of young bloggers, ages 18 to 28 (13
percent). The site is split evenly between male and female use, and has
little variation between education and location, though the majority of
users tend to make less than $30,000 or more than $75,000.
