"I think Facebook can be fun, but also it’s drama central. On Facebook, people imply things and say things, even just by a like, that they wouldn’t say in real life."
—
Teen, on Facebook.
(Source: pewinternet.org)
"I am basically dividing things up. Instagram is mostly for pictures. Twitter is mostly for just saying what you are thinking. Facebook is both of them combined so you have to give a little bit of each. But yes, so Instagram, I posted more pictures on Instagram than on Facebook. Twitter is more natural."
—
Teen, on using different social media sites.
Along with The Berkman Center for Internet & Society, we conducted focus groups with teenagers in a variety of locales. Here’s a list of some of the most revealing and interesting comments about how teens think about social networking sites and how they navigate issues of identity and privacy. http://pewrsr.ch/10LRth9
Teens are sharing more personal information on their profiles than in the past. They choose private settings for Facebook, but share with large networks of friends. 60% of teen Facebook users keep their profiles private.
Brand spanking new report out today on teens and their digital lives. Teen twitter use has grown substantially; 24% of teens use twitter, up from 16% in 2011. But Facebook is still most popular. This infographic says it all, but stop by the report for the nitty gritty. http://pewrsr.ch/191zI4V
Are you planning to wish your mom a Happy Mother’s Day on Facebook? If so, you’re not alone. “Moms” (defined as women with a child or children under the age of 18 living at home) are especially likely to be Facebook users, even compared with dads, or with other women.
Some 79% of moms use Facebook, compared with 61% of all women and 57% of men with a minor child living at home. (As of December 2012, 54% of all American adults and 67% of internet users use social networking sites.)
When asked participants in our survey to assess the amount of time they spend on Facebook and the general value of Facebook in their lives, a majority of users say the site is as important now as it was a year ago and about half say they use the site as much now as they did a year ago. Women are more likely than men to report increased importance and greater time spent on the site.
Asked about their plans for the coming year, most current users of Facebook say they expect their usage levels will stay about the same. But around one in four say they plan to cut back on their Facebook usage in 2013.
Young adults are the most likely forecasters of decreased engagement.
More: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Coming-and-going-on-facebook/Key-Findings.aspx
Some things to keep in mind as Facebook prepares to reveal its big announcement today:
- 2/3 of online U.S. adults (67%) are Facebook users, making it the dominant social networking site in this country.
- 61% of Facebook users say they have taken a break from using Facebook for a period of several weeks or more.
- 8% of online adults who do not currently use Facebook are interested in becoming Facebook users in the future.
These facts and more from our recent report on coming and going on Facebook: http://pewrsr.ch/VGNMNO
(Source: pewinternet.org)
"[Facebook users] are adding up the pluses and minuses on a kind of networking balance sheet and they are trying to figure out how much they get out of connectivity vs. how much they put into it."
— Lee Rainie, in the New York Times, on taking Facebook hiatuses.
(Source: The New York Times)
Facebook is 9 years old today. See demographics of social network users from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Who uses Facebook? Demo breakdown -
Social networking sites - who uses what platform? We’ve got the data, yes we do!
- 12% of online adults say they use Pinterest
- 12% of online adults say they use Instagram
- 5% of online adults say they use Tumblr
- 66% of online adults use Facebook
- 20% use LinkedIn
- 16% use Twitter
Want more stats? We got ‘em. http://pewrsr.ch/SHyZRc
(Source: pewinternet.org)
Are you a Facebook power user?
We combined server logs of Facebook activity with survey data to explore the structure of Facebook friendship networks and measures of social well-being - and found that most Facebook users get more from their Facebook friends than they give. We found that over a one-month period:
- 40% of Facebook users in our sample made a friend request, but 63% received at least one request
- Users in our sample pressed the like button next to friends’ content an average of 14 times, but had their content “liked” an average of 20 times
- Users sent 9 personal messages, but received 12
- 12% of users tagged a friend in a photo, but 35% were themselves tagged in a photo
Check out this infographic via Mashable to see whether you qualify as a power user, and read more in our report …
Facebook: A Profile of its ‘Friends’
In light of the Facebook IPO, we rounded up highlights of our data on adult Facebook users. What do Facebook users do on the site? How many friends they have? What are their social and civic lives like?
Some fast facts:
- 229: The average number of friends a person has on Facebook
- Women average 21 updates to their Facebook status per month while men average 6
Facebook, on an Average Day:
- 15% of Facebook users update their own status
- 22% comment on another’s post or status
- 20% comment on another user’s photos
- 26% “Like” another user’s content
- 10% send another user a private message
Read the full portrait for more on the social and civic characteristics of Facebook users and the privacy management habits of social networking site users
