Pew Research Center: 65% of American adults visit social networking sites

According to foreign media reports, the Pew Research Center (hereinafter referred to as "Pew") released a report on Friday local time, saying that the proportion of American adult Internet users who visit social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn has increased from 61% in the same period last year to 65%. Considering that some American adults do not visit the Internet, this means that half of American adults visit social networking sites.

Pew said the number of Americans visiting social networking sites has exploded since 2005, when 8 percent of U.S. adults online and about 5 percent of U.S. adults used social networking sites. The percentage of Americans who say they visit social networking sites has more than doubled since 2008, when 29 percent said they did.

Pew said that women aged 18 to 29 are the most likely to visit social networking sites. Among female Internet users in this age group, 89% visit social networking sites, and 69% visit social networking sites every day. 69% of adult female Internet users visit social networking sites, while the proportion of male Internet users is 60%. Pew first found that more women than men visit social networking sites in 2008, and this trend has continued to this day.

Younger users prefer to visit social networking sites. Among netizens aged 18 to 29, 83% said they visit social networking sites, while among netizens aged over 65, the proportion is only 33%. Among netizens aged 50 to 64, the proportion of visiting social networking sites has increased from 20% in the same period last year to 32%, the fastest increase among all age groups.

43% of American adult Internet users visit social networking sites every day, compared to 38% in the same period last year and 13% in 2008. 61% and 59% of American adult Internet users send and receive emails and use search engines every day, respectively.

Pew reported that in 2009, 46% of American Internet users said they had visited a social networking site at least once.

The report also noted that there are no significant differences in access to social networking sites by race, household income, education level, or whether people live in urban, suburban or rural areas.