The Pew Research Center has released Social Media Update 2014—its latest survey of social network usage. The big takeaway from the report is that Facebook is still dominant, and it doesn’t look like that is going to change anytime soon. Although the survey found overall use of Facebook stagnant, there are two reasons things are still looking rosy for the king of social networks.
The report analyzes overall usage of popular social network platforms, and also breaks down usage across various demographics. Researchers conducted telephone interviews in English and Spanish of 1,002 landline and 1,001 cellphone numbers during September of 2014. The results illustrate general trends in social networking, and provide insight into age, gender, and education gaps that define the different social network options available.
The authors of the report cite a number of notable findings. For example, for the first time since Pew started doing these surveys more than half of online adults 65 and over are using Facebook, more than half of Internet-using adults between 18 and 29 are using Instagram, and exactly half of Internet users with a college education are using LinkedIn LNKD +0.04%.
There is also some news that seems to paint a gloomy picture for Facebook. The Pew researchers found that overall usage of Facebook is stagnant. In both 2013 and 2014 the study found that 71 percent of Internet users surveyed have Facebook accounts. Compared with Instagram skyrocketing more than 50 percent from its 2013 usage, or Pinterest jumping up 33 percent over last year, being stagnant doesn’t seem very promising.
There are two factors that contrast with the stagnant growth, and bend things back in Facebook’s favor. First of all, most of the competing social networks are less mature than Facebook, and the number of Internet-using adults who rely on multiple social media sites increased dramatically year over year. In essence, while there are still 29 percent of online adults not using Facebook, the Facebook population is more or less saturated, while other networks like Instagram and Pinterest are still young and have plenty of room to grow. That growth doesn’t mean they’re better or preferred—just that they’re younger, and benefit from the trend to embrace more than one social platform.
The second factor is that Facebook engagement is up. Even though the overall number of users might be stagnant, those users are visiting Facebook more frequently, and staying on the site longer. The Pew study found that 70 percent of Facebook users engage with the site daily—up from 63 percent in 2013.
By comparison, the percentage of Instagram and Pinterest users who engage with those social networks did not change significantly from the previous year. Overall usage of Twitter TWTR +2.76% increased by more than 27 percent over 2013, but the percentage of Twitter users that access the site on a daily basis dropped by 10 percent. The percentage of LinkedIn users who access the site daily was unchanged, but of those who don’t log in to the site daily the study found they’re actually using the site much less often, and may not even be logging in weekly.
In Facebook’s defense, Facebook also owns Instagram. So, even though it is still maintained and measured as a separate social network, that growth still benefits Facebook as well.
I’m sure Facebook isn’t satisfied with 71 percent, and will continue to strive to win over that remaining 29 percent, but engaged and loyal users are much more important than the volume of users when it comes to marketing and revenue opportunities. There is little value in having 100 percent of Internet-using adults set up accounts on your social network, if few ever actually use it.
