State of Social Media: 2011

Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist

Presented to:U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

National Programmer’s WorkshopDecember 14, 2011

About Pew Internet• Part of the Pew Research Center, a

non-partisan “fact tank” in Washington, DC

• Studies how people use digital technologies

• Does not promote specific technologies or make policy recommendations

• Research is primarily based on nationally representative telephone surveys of adults

Who posts all of those cat photos?

• 74% of adults are now online, compared with 74% in 2009.• 56% use the internet on a typical day.• Broadband adoption has slowed – 6 in 10 adults have

broadband at home.• Most who don’t have broadband at home don’t use the

internet at all.

04/19/23 4

•

Internet adoption over time by teens & adults % within each age group who go online

95%94%

87%

74%

41%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Nov 04 Nov 06 Nov 07 Feb 08 Sept 09 July 11

12-17

18-29

30-49

50-64

65+

Home broadband adoption stable since 2009

Cell phone usage by different agesBased on adult cell owners

18-29 (n=321)

30-49 (n=535)

50-64 (n=572)

65+ (n=430)

Send or receive text messages 95% 85% 58% 24%

Take a picture 91 81 60 37

Access the internet 64 54 26 10

Send a photo or video to someone 72 65 40 16

Send or receive email 51 46 26 10

Download an app 49 37 17 7

Play a game 53 44 18 7

Play music 58 39 16 4

Record a video 53 42 19 3

Access a social networking site 50 36 13 2

Watch a video 44 32 10 3

Post a photo or video online 37 26 9 5

Check your bank balance or do any online banking

29 22 10 6

Participate in a video call or video chat

14 5 2 2

Smartphone ownership is an inflection point

• 35% of US adults own a smartphone

• One in four smartphone owners say they mostly go online using their phone.

Social networking site use by age group, 2005-2011

SNS use on a typical day by age group, 2005-2011

Twitter use by age% of internet users within each group

13% of all online adults use Twitter

Half of Twitter users access the service on a cell phone

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Teen social network & Twitter use Based on teen internet users

55%60%

65%73%

80%

8%16%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Nov 2006 Nov 2007 Feb 2008 Sept 2009 July 2011

Use online social networking sites Use Twitter

Motivations for social networking use

• For adults ages 50+ staying in touch with family is the #1 reason they use SNS

• For adults under age 50, staying in touch with friends is more important

You’re my special 229th friend…

• The average adult Facebook user in our sample had 229 friends from the following groups:

– 22% were people from high school – 12% extended family – 10% coworkers – 9% college friends – 8% immediate family – 7% people from voluntary groups – 2% neighbors

• Over 31% did not fit these categories (includes some friends-of-friends and other “dormant” ties that may later become active).

How groups use new digital communications toolsThese data cover people in different age cohorts who are active in groups. The percentages of each age cohort whose groups …

TotalAges 18-29

Ages 30-49

Ages 50-64

Ages 65+

Have a page on a social networking site like Facebook 48% 68% 55% 42% 20%

Organize group activities with members via text messaging

42% 56% 48% 38% 24%

Have their own blog 30% 39% 34% 28% 15%

Communicate with members through Twitter 16% 24% 16% 14% 8%

Source: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, November 23-December 21, 2010 Social Side of the Internet Survey. N=2,303 adults 18 and older, including 748 reached via cell phone. N for those active in groups=1,833.

Thank you!

Mary MaddenPhone: 202-419-4515Email: mmadden@pewinternet.orgTwitter: @mary_madden

Website: www.pewinternet.org