Social media has been part of our lives now for well over a decade. But while it’s integrated into our everyday routines in almost seamless fashion, we’re left wondering if there’s anything we don’t already know about it. Pay attention to what occasionally crops up about titans like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the rest however, and you might just surprise yourself.
Digital agency Join Universe put together some of the recent facts that have come out about social media. What you don’t know might intrigue you.
Social Network Users Are Seriously Charitable
A lot of naysayers and critics of social media often fall back on the argument that it’s a vain and superficial use of time. Check out the recent news conducted by SurveyMonkey however, where more than 1,000 American adults where profiled, and you’ll see that it’s a hugely developing platform for raising awareness and funds for charities across the world. According the survey, more than 45% of users say they hear about social initiatives three times more than they do through TV and other sources.
What’s more staggering however is that 63% of users claimed to have donated $100 or more to charitable causes in 2013 alone. Those are some pretty eye-catching figures!
More People Use Them Than Don’t
According to a 2014 report from Edison Research and Arbitron that profiled people in America, 52% of respondents said they had profiles on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and other places. That figure tips the scales and now points to the fact that more people now use social media than those who don’t. As if you could ever doubt the phenomenon!
Twitter Is More Diverse Than Facebook
That same report made by Edison and Arbitron also pointed to the significance of Twitter in bridging people from all racial and demographic backgrounds to becoming the most diverse social media platform in existence. 55% of Twitter users, according to the findings, are White, with 22% African-American, 3% Asian and 15% Hispanic. Such figures push Twitter ahead of Facebook in terms of user diversity. That’s a bit of a shock.
Older People Are Getting With It
Your parents making friends with you on Facebook might have already happened but you might also raise eyebrows at the fact that on Twitter the fastest growing demographic is the 55-64 age bracket. Growing 79% since 2012, it seems older people are really taking to social media as a way of life and brands are taking note, changing strategies to reflect the burgeoning numbers heading online.
LinkedIn Gets a New User Every Second
LinkedIn, the social network leader in the careers and employment sector, gets two new users every second. Headed to the platform to network and form connections in the professional world, that kind of user adoption shows just how useful social networking can be in terms of finding work opportunities.
Social media, with facts like that, continues to surprise people who often forget just how powerful and fast its growing as a tool for connecting people the world over. For aspiring businesses that’s big news. But for people just looking to make more friends it’s not too bad either!