Latest Report Shows LinkedIn and Pinterest Bigger than Twitter, Instagram Coming Up Fast
Social networking has become one of the hottest online activities with 73 percent of adults using a social networking site of some kind, according to data compiled by Pew Internet. Around 4 out of 10 online adults get their social groove going with multiple sites, but which are the most popular? Facebook is the obvious big man on campus, but you might be surprised at where the other sites stand.
Like Facebook users, Instagram users are likely to check in on a daily basis. However, Instagram is the least popular social networking (by a hair) out of Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Source: Pew Research Center
Mark Zuckerberg's online playground dominates all others with 71 percent of online adults now using the website, up from 67 percent last year. Coming in a distant second place is LinkedIn, which has managed to attract 22 percent of the online adult population, a 2 percent bump from a year prior. Some 21 percent of adults use Pinterest, up significantly from 15 percent a year ago, followed by Twitter, which is used by 18 percent of online adults. Though it's a fairly close race by the also-rans, it's interesting that both LinkedIn and Pinterest are more popular among online adults than Twitter.
"While Facebook is popular across a diverse mix of demographic groups, other sites have developed their own unique demographic user profiles. For example, Pinterest holds particular appeal to female users (women are four times as likely as men to be Pinterest users), and LinkedIn is especially popular among college graduates and internet users in higher income households," Pew Internet explains. "Twitter and Instagram have particular appeal to younger adults, urban dwellers, and non-whites. And there is substantial overlap between Twitter and Instagram user bases."
Twitter recently became a publicly traded company. That means it will feel the pressure from investors to not only compete with other social networking services, but also to become larger than the competition to make it more attractive (and valuable) to advertisers.
Like Facebook users, Instagram users are likely to check in on a daily basis. However, Instagram is the least popular social networking (by a hair) out of Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Source: Pew Research Center
Mark Zuckerberg's online playground dominates all others with 71 percent of online adults now using the website, up from 67 percent last year. Coming in a distant second place is LinkedIn, which has managed to attract 22 percent of the online adult population, a 2 percent bump from a year prior. Some 21 percent of adults use Pinterest, up significantly from 15 percent a year ago, followed by Twitter, which is used by 18 percent of online adults. Though it's a fairly close race by the also-rans, it's interesting that both LinkedIn and Pinterest are more popular among online adults than Twitter.
"While Facebook is popular across a diverse mix of demographic groups, other sites have developed their own unique demographic user profiles. For example, Pinterest holds particular appeal to female users (women are four times as likely as men to be Pinterest users), and LinkedIn is especially popular among college graduates and internet users in higher income households," Pew Internet explains. "Twitter and Instagram have particular appeal to younger adults, urban dwellers, and non-whites. And there is substantial overlap between Twitter and Instagram user bases."
Twitter recently became a publicly traded company. That means it will feel the pressure from investors to not only compete with other social networking services, but also to become larger than the competition to make it more attractive (and valuable) to advertisers.
