We all have hunches about who dominates certain social media networks, but now we have some statistics to back up — or defy — those assumptions. Business Insider has compiled a report on the demographics of the major social media platforms. Check out the full infographic here. Young people are unsurprisingly confirmed to be the most active users in general, but from there it differentiates, especially in gender and income.
First, there's Facebook. Yes, it's still absolutely the most prominent social network, dwarfing every other. 86% of its users come from outside the U.S., and 73% of people earning over $75,000 annually have a Facebook account (while only 17% have a Twitter account). And, our parents are joining in droves: The 45-54 age bracket has grown 45% since the end of 2012.
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Twitter users are demonstrably young: 27% of the 18-29 age group in the U.S. tweet, but only 16% of people in their 30s and 40s use the platform. The notoriously youthful Tumblr, meanwhile, is "strong with teens and young adults interested in self-expression," but is the social media outlet with the lowest presence on the income-specific bar graph, with only 8% of U.S. Internet users with incomes above $75,000 using the platform (and an even lower percentage in the lower income brackets). We would hazard a guess and say most of Tumblr's users aren't holding full-time jobs.
Things get interesting when you factor gender into the mix. The stereotypes about Pinterest being a bride-to-be's platform are annoying, though not farfetched: 84% of its users are women (many of whom are tablet users — good for all those aspirational photos!). Following suit is the female-leaning Instagram, with 68% of its users being women. It's pretty clear that women prefer the visually-appetizing platforms, though we wish we could see an official Tumblr gender demographic chart to confirm this. Meanwhile, men still dominate the business-oriented sectors: They comprise 70% of Google+ users, and maintain a strong, global LinkedIn presence. [Business Insider]
Photo: via Business Insider