2014 US Social Media Report: American Teens Still Love Facebook

Source: All Media

In a new survey conducted in September 2014, the Pew Research Center found that Facebook is still by far the most popular social media site. Although its growth rate has slowed, its user engagement has increased. Other platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn have seen significant growth in the proportion of new users compared to the previous year.

Figure: Proportion of American adult netizens using the five major social platforms from 2012 to 2014 (Source: Pew Research Center)

Multi-platform users are on the rise: 52% of online adults currently use two or more social platforms, up from 42% in 2013.
For the first time, more than half (56%) of seniors aged 65 and over use Facebook, accounting for 31% of all seniors;
Facebook users are still dominated by women: according to a 2013 social survey, in the United States, women use Facebook 10% more than men;

Facebook remains the most popular social network for young people in the U.S. Nearly half of young users say they use Facebook more frequently than they did last year, and Facebook has more young users every day than any other social platform;

Instagram has squeezed out Facebook and Twitter in the minds of young users. According to Piper Jaffray's twice-yearly teen survey, young Americans say Instagram is the most important, while Facebook and Twitter have lost their weight in the minds of these users. The survey also found that 83% of American teenagers from wealthy families use Instagram;

For the first time, more than half of all users of LinkedIn are college-educated.

LinkedIn is still more popular than Twitter among adults in the U.S. The core users of LinkedIn are between 30 and 49 years old, which means that these users are in the prime of their career advancement. Not surprisingly, most of LinkedIn users are well educated.

Twitter has begun to skew toward male users, whereas it was previously a gender-biased social platform. Pew found that 22% of men use Twitter, compared to only 15% of women.

Women dominate Pinterest, with 42% of female users using the platform, compared to 13% of male users.

Figure: Analysis of Facebook adult user information (Source: BI)

Number of users: Facebook remains the dominant platform, while other platforms have seen significant growth

Facebook is still by far the most popular social media site, but its membership has changed a bit since 2013. One notable example is seniors: For the first time in Pew’s survey, more than half (56%) of people aged 65 and older use Facebook. Overall, 71% of all online adults in the U.S. use Facebook, which is roughly the same number as in August 2013.

However, the market share of all other social platforms has increased significantly. Instagram has not only increased its number of users by 9%, but also significantly increased its share in almost every age group; Twitter and Pinteres' user share has risen accordingly in all age groups; and the proportion of LinkedIn's original user groups (such as professors and college students) has also continued to increase.

Facebook's huge user base remains very active. About 70% of users use it daily in 2014 (45% of which use it multiple times a day), compared to 63% in 2013. 49% of Instagram and 17% of Pinterest users use the platform every day, although these are not significantly different from 2013; about 36% of Twitter users visit the platform every day, but in fact, it is a significant drop of 10% from 2013. 13% of LinkedIn users log in every day, which is the same as in 2013, but more users have changed to log in once a week or more.

Cross-platform usage: Facebook still serves as the "base camp"

About 52% of adult netizens use two or more social media sites, an increase of 10% compared to 2013. At the same time, the number of adults who only use one platform dropped from 36% last year to 28% this year. Among these people, 79% of users still like to use Facebook the most, the same as in 2013. Because in the past few years, most Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn users said they still use Facebook, more than any other website. At the same time, the proportion of Facebook users using other platforms has also shown an upward trend. That is to say, compared with 2013, more Facebook users have started using Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn this year.