What’s the #1 social network among people 18-29 years old? Instagram? Twitter? Nope, Facebook. The common misconception is that millennials – especially young millennials and Gen Z, no longer use Facebook. Actually, 88% of online users aged 18-29 use Facebook, making that demographic Facebook’s largest. And while Facebook’s percentage of older adults is growing, interestingly it is not coming at the expense of the younger users. Overall, a startling 79% of online adults use Facebook. Below is a recent research study on social media usage done by the Pew Research Center.
Marketing Charts put together a side by side comparison on the Pew Research Center study of top social networks and how they break out in key demographics:
What about Snapchat – the new kid on the block? The Pew Research also looked at auto-delete apps or messaging apps that automatically delete sent messages, like Snapchat and Wickr. It didn’t break out Snapchat by itself but overall they found that 56% of smartphone owners ages 18 to 29 use these types of platforms but their numbers among adults 30+ is still low. Only 13% of people aged 30-49 use these types of apps.
The research study would seem to confirm what we are seeing with our clients – targeted ads on Facebook make sense for reaching just about every type of demographic!
