The surge into social networks is gaining pace among Americans, with Facebook dominating but with many people using multiple platforms, a study showed Monday.<\/p>\n
A Pew Research Center survey found 73 percent of Americans over age 18 on the Internet use at least one social network — or about 63 percent of the total adult population.<\/p>\n
Facebook is the preferred network, used by 71 percent of online adults, or 57 percent of all American adults, according to Pew researchers.<\/p>\n
However other platforms like Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter are making gains, and a growing number of people are using multiple social networks.<\/p>\n
Pew found that 42 percent of Internet users (or 34 percent of all American adults) use two or more of the five most popular social networks.<\/p>\n
Use of Facebook rose to 71 percent of online adults from 67 percent a year ago, the study found.<\/p>\n
A large part of the growth for Facebook came from older Americans: Roughly 45 percent of Internet users over 65 are using Facebook, up from 35 percent in late 2012.<\/p>\n
Four other social networks, including Facebook-owned Instagram, are battling for the number two spot for US users.<\/p>\n
LinkedIn is used by 22 percent of online American adults and is especially popular among college graduates and those in higher income households. That is up from 20 percent a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Pinterest usage grew sharply to 21 percent of online adults, from 15 percent a year ago. Pew said that women are four times as likely as men to be users of the bulletin-board style social media platform.<\/p>\n
Some 18 percent of online adults use Twitter, up from 16 percent a year ago, Pew said, with adoption levels particularly high among younger adults and African-Americans.<\/p>\n
Instagram use rose to 17 percent of online adults from 13 percent a year ago, according to the survey. Much of this growth came in the 18 to 29 age bracket and among African-Americans.<\/p>\n
Pew found that Facebook and Instagram drew high levels of “user engagement,” with a majority of users checking in on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
Some 63 percent of Facebook users visit the site at least once a day, and 40 percent do so multiple times throughout the day.<\/p>\n
That compares with 57 percent of Instagram users who visit the site at least once a day and 46 percent of Twitter users.<\/p>\n
The researchers also found considerable overlap among the leading social networks. For example, 93 percent of Instagram users also use Facebook, as do 83 percent of LinkedIn members.<\/p>\n
Some 53 percent of Twitter users also use Instagram, and 53 percent of Instagram users use Twitter, the survey found.<\/p>\n
The report is based on telephone interviews conducted from August 7 to September 16 among 1,801 adults age 18 and older. For the total group, the margin of error is estimated at 2.6 percentage points and 2.9 points for Internet users.<\/p>\n
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