Pew Research Finds Social Media Still on the Rise

Nearly three quarters (73%) of online teens and an equal number (72%) of young adults use social network sites while older adults have not kept pace according to new research from the Pew Internet Project in the US.

The study found that some 40% of adults aged 30 and older are using social sites.

New survey results also show that among adults 18 and older, Facebook has taken over as the social network of choice; 73% of adult profile owners use Facebook, 48% have a profile on MySpace and 14% use LinkedIn.

Amanda Lenhart, one of the authors of the report and a senior research specialist at the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project says blogging appears to have lost its lustre for many young users.

Lenhart says the move to Facebook — which lacks a specific tool for blogging within the network — may have contributed to the decline of blogging among young adults and teens.

Lenhart also pointed out that many of the functions that blogging served for teens in the mid-2000s for communicating about their lives and updating their activities for their friends have become central activities on social networking sites like Facebook.

These are among the findings of the Pew Internet Project titled “Social Media and Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults.”

The report highlights data from two September 2009 telephone surveys – one focused on teens ages 12-17 and a separate survey of adults 18 and older.

Among the main findings of the report:

• Social networking is becoming a more fragmented activity, as the average adult social network user now has a profile on more than one site – 57% of adults who use social networks have more than one online profile.
• At the same time, the youngest users of social networking sites are changing their communications preferences. Teens are now less likely to send group messages, send private messages to friends and comment on a friend’s blog within a social network site.

Additionally, young adults ages 18 to 29 have embraced mobile gadgets and connectivity:

• More young adults own a laptop (66%) than a desktop computer (53%).
• 81% of the 18-29 age group goes online wirelessly compared with 63% of 30-49 year olds and 34% of those ages 50 and older.
• More than half of young adults have accessed the internet wirelessly on a laptop (55%) or a cell phone (53%).

For the adult findings, the bulk of the data is from telephone interviews conducted by PSRAI between August 18 and September 14, 2009, among a sample of 2,253 American adults ages 18 and older, which includes 560 cell phone interviews.

The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project is one of seven projects that make up the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, Not for Profit "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.

To download the report go to: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-and-Young-Adults.aspx