The share of adult Internet users who have a profile on a social networking site has more than quadrupled over the last four years -- from 8% in 2005 to 35% now,1 according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project's December 2008 tracking survey. According to survey findings, while media coverage and policy attention focus greatly on how children and young adults use social network sites, adults still account for the bulk of the users of these Web sites. (Since adults make up a larger portion of the U.S. population than teens do, the 35% proportion represents a higher number of users than the 65% of online teens2 who use online social networks.3)
Still, younger online adults are much more likely than their older counterparts to use social networks, with 75% of adults 18-24 using these networks, compared with only 7% of adults ages 65 and older.
Specifically, the study found that:
Young people are much more likely than older adults to use social networks.
- 75% of online adults 18-24 have a profile on a social network site
- 57% of online adults 25-34 have a profile on a social network
- 30% of online adults 35-44 have one
- 19% of online 45 to 54 year olds have a profile
- 10% of online 55 to 64 year olds have a profile
- 7% of online adults 65 and older have a profile
Overall, personal use of social networks seems to be more prevalent than professional use of networks, both in the orientation of the networks that adults choose to use as well as the reasons they offer for using the applications. According to May 2008 survey findings that were released for the first time:
- 50% of adult social network users have a profile on MySpace
- 22% have a profile on Facebook
- 6% have a profile on LinkedIn
Online social network applications are primarily used for describing and maintaining personal networks, and the majority of adults, like teens, are using them to connect with people they already know.
- 89% use their online profiles to keep up with friends
- 57% use their profile to make plans with friends
- 49% use them to make new friends
- Other uses: organize with other people for an event, issue or cause; flirt with someone; promote themselves or their work; make new business contacts.
- 51% of social network users have two or more online profiles
- 43% have only one online profile
Among social network users with multiple profiles:
- 83% have those profiles on different sites
- 17% have those profiles on one site
- 24% have multiple profiles so they can keep up with friends on different sites
- 19% have multiple profiles to separate the personal and the professional
- 6% just use different sites
- 4% have different profiles for different parts of their personality
- 4% have older profiles on sites they do not use anymore
Most, but not all adult social network users are privacy conscious:
- 60% of adult social network users restrict access to their profiles so that only their friends can see it.
- 36% of social network users allow anyone to see their online profile
- 58% of adult social network users restrict access to certain content within their profile
- 43% of adults think it would be pretty easy for someone to find out who they are from their profile; 23% of teens say it would be pretty easy
- 33% of adults with profiles think that they would have to work at it, but that someone could eventually find out who they are; 40% of teens say the same
- 20% of adults think that it would be difficult for someone to find out who they are; 36% of teens say it would be difficult for someone to find out who they are.
The use of social networks on any given day is also increasing. In February 2005, only 2% of adult Internet users had visited an online social network "yesterday" while 19% of adult Internet users had done so in December 2008.
Social network users4 are equally likely to be men and women, but are more likely to be young: 75% of online adults between ages 18 and 24 have a social network profile, as do 57% of wired adults between ages 25 and 34. Profile ownership drops to 30% among 35-44 year olds, 19% among 45-54 year olds, 10% among 55 to 64 year olds and 7% of online adults 65 and older. Similarly, social network users are also more likely to be students -- 68% of full time students and 71% of part-time students have a social network profile, while just 28% of adults who are not students use social networks. Whites are less likely than African-Americans or Hispanics to have a profile on an online social network. Nearly one third 31% of online white adults have a social networking profile, compared with 43% of African-Americans and 48% of Hispanics.
For further information, visit www.pewresearch.org.
1 The 35% data point and basic demographic information about social network users is from Pew Internet Project's December 2008 Survey. All other data in the report is from the Project's May 2008 survey, unless otherwise noted. 2 This teen data point is from Pew's Gaming and Civic Engagement Survey of Teens fielded from November 2007 through February 2008. n=1102 parent child pairs and the margin of error is +/- 3% for online teens. 3 Pew defines online social networks as spaces on the Internet where users can create a profile and connect that profile to others (individuals or entities) to create a personal network. 4 Data in this paragraph comes from the Pew Internet Project's December 2008 Survey.
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