A report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project released on Thursday, Feb. 14 reveals the demographics of social media users in 2012. Social media networks investigated include Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
Based in Washington, D.C. and established in 2004, the Pew Research Center culls together and analyzes information on worldwide concerns, attitudes and trends. As of 2013, Pew's president is former deputy managing editor of the Wall Street Journal Alan Murray.
Internet & American Life is one of seven such projects under Pew's umbrella, with others including those dealing with religion/public life, global attitudes, Hispanic interests, "People and the Press," demographic trends and excellence in journalism.
According to notations on the Report, 1,082 Internet users were surveyed by Pew over the period of Nov. 4 through Dec. 9, 2012. All interviews were conducted in English or Spanish and took place over landline and cell phones.
The margin of error is "+/- 2.6 percentage for results based on [I]nternet users."
As maintained in the Report:
Twitter Users
- Have doubled since November 2010, currently standing at 16 percent of those on the Internet
- Are likely to be under 50, and especially 18-29
- Are significantly more likely to be urban-dwellers than both suburban and rural residents
Pinterest Users
- Are represented by 15 percent of Internet users
- Are most likely white, young people, the well-educated and those with higher income
- Are equally likely to be either 18-29 and 30-49
- Are five times as likely to be women than men (the largest gender gap of any site featured in the Report)
Instagram Users
- Are represented by 13 percent of Internet users
- Are more likely to be women
- Are more likely to be under 50
- Are more likely to be African-American and Hispanic than Whites
- Are more likely to be residents of urban areas
Tumblr Users
- Are those using the least popular social network, represented by 6 percent of all Internet users
- Are more likely to be 18-29
Facebook Users
- Are those using the most popular network, represented by 66 percent of online adults on the Internet
- Are more likely to be women than men
- Are more likely to be younger adults
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