Social Media Demographics

Social media is moving at the speed of light, and social networks are constantly changing including their demographics. For example, Facebook started out only allowing students with a college email address to join; however, there are now over 600 million users accessing the site from a variety of demographics (Facebook.com). It is important to keep an eye on these evolving demographics. They will help you choose a network that best targets your audience and develop a strategy accordingly. Below are a few current statistics to consider when planning your next social campaign.

Facebook
Ken Burbary’s (2011) blog reports that 18-25 year-olds make up 35% of the Facebook community, but that does not mean there is not a significant amount of older adults using the site. Burbary also notes there are 28 million people over the age of 45 actively using Facebook. Assuming technology is for the young is a fatal mistake. If your target market is an older demographic, don’t be afraid to find them on Facebook. They’re already there and growing.

According to CheckFacebook.com, which tracks Facebook’s data daily, the site is also a very global network with 79% of their users located outside the United States. Worldwide, men dominate Facebook; however, in the United States, 54% of Facebook users are women.

Twitter
The Pew Research Center’s Senior Research Specialist, Aaron Smith (2011), recently reported 13% of adults are using Twitter and 54% access the site through mobile devices. Twitter was initially very popular with older population segments but has gained a youthful acceptance in the last few years thanks to celebrity adoption and mainstream media.

People are using Twitter for a variety of reasons including entertainment, news, self-expression, networking and information gathering. It is often used as a link-sharing tool and some businesses use Twitter strictly for customer service purposes. You may want to use a mixed strategy to meet multiple needs for a diverse customer base by using multiple Twitter accounts. 

LinkedIn
This business-networking site boasts 100 million users worldwide and more than half are located outside the United States. Job seekers use the site to build connections and find jobs. This site is also great for employers to post jobs, check references, display their products and services, solicit recommendations and start a workplace community. Since this network is used as a business relationship development tool, it makes sense that 35% of the users are between the ages of 35-44. Many users also earn a higher than average income, 48% of members make between $50,000 and $99,000 each year. There are also more men than women signed up on LinkedIn at 55% (Ignitesocialmedia.com, 2011).

YouTube
According the most recent Nielsen report (2011), online video consumption has increased 45% since January 2010. YouTube is still the most popular online video network when it comes to online video with 8.5 billion streams – ten times more than its closest competitor, Hulu. 

Think teenagers are the most popular user of YouTube? Think again. Fifty seven percent of users are between the ages of 20-35, and only 20% of users are teenagers. Grandma and grandpa weigh in as 1.4% of the community.

When planning social media strategies and before launching tactics, be sure to take into consideration where your target audience is most active. Keep in mind the stats that I have presented are mostly age demographics and because of the speed of social media, in three months this blog could be out-of-date!