SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE +
  • About infoDOCKET
  • Academic Libraries on LJ
  • Research on LJ
  • News on LJ
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Libraries
    • Academic Libraries
    • Government Libraries
    • National Libraries
    • Public Libraries
  • Companies (Publishers/Vendors)
    • EBSCO
    • Elsevier
    • Ex Libris
    • Frontiers
    • Gale
    • PLOS
    • Scholastic
  • New Resources
    • Dashboards
    • Data Files
    • Digital Collections
    • Digital Preservation
    • Interactive Tools
    • Maps
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Productivity
  • New Research
    • Conference Presentations
    • Journal Articles
    • Lecture
    • New Issue
    • Reports
  • Topics
    • Archives & Special Collections
    • Associations & Organizations
    • Awards
    • Funding
    • Interviews
    • Jobs
    • Management & Leadership
    • News
    • Patrons & Users
    • Preservation
    • Profiles
    • Publishing
    • Roundup
    • Scholarly Communications
      • Open Access

February 5, 2013 by Gary Price

Social Media: 61% of Facebook Users Have Voluntarily Taken Break From Using Service

February 5, 2013 by Gary Price

Even devoted Facebook users take extended breaks from the service and 20% are now longer using the social networking service according to just released findings from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
A lot to digest here and if nothing else more reasons on why relying heavily or only on social media to market/promote services and special events is not a good idea.
Read the Complete Report
A PDF Version is also available.
From the Pew Internet and American Life Project:

Two-thirds of online American adults (67%) are Facebook users, making Facebook the dominant social networking site in this country. And new findings from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project indicate there is considerable fluidity in the Facebook user population:

  • 61% of current Facebook users say that at one time or another in the past they have voluntarily taken a break from using Facebook for a period of several weeks or more.
  • 20% of the online adults who do not currently use Facebook say they once used the site but no longer do so
  • 8% of online adults who do not currently use Facebook are interested in becoming Facebook users in the future.

We asked the 61% of Facebook users who have taken a break from using the site to tell us in their own words why they did so, and they mentioned a variety of reasons. The largest group (21%) said that their “Facebook vacation” was a result of being too busy with other demands or not having time to spend on the site. Others pointed toward a general lack of interest in the site itself (10% mentioned this in one way or another), an absence of compelling content (10%), excessive gossip or “drama” from their friends (9%), or concerns that they were spending too much time on the site and needed to take a break (8%).

When asked in the mid-December Omnibus 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. However, notable numbers point to a decreasing value and a decline in usage over the past year.

  • 59% of Facebook users say the social networking site is about as important to them as it was a year ago. And 53% of current users say the amount of time they are spending on Facebook has stayed about the same over the past year.
  • 28% of Facebook users say the site has become less important to them than it was a year ago.
  • And 34% of current users say the amount of time they are spending on Facebook has decreased over the past year.
  • 12% of Facebook users say the social networking site has become more important to them than it was a year ago. And 13% of current users say the amount of time they are spending on Facebook has increased over the past year.

Women are more likely than men to report increased importance and greater time spent on the site. Some 16% of female users (and 7% of men) say that Facebook has become more important to them over the last year, and 16% of female users (and 9% of men) say that they spend more time on the site now than they did a year ago.
On the other hand, some 42% of Facebook users ages 18-29 and 34% of those ages 30-49 say that the time they spend on Facebook on a typical day has decreased over the last year — these are both significantly higher than the 23% of users ages  50 and older who report decreased Facebook usage over the same time period.

Read the Complete Report
A PDF Version is also available.

Filed under: News, Patrons and Users

SHARE:

About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Job Zone

ADVERTISEMENT

Recent Articles on LJ

Certified Sustainable | Sustainability

After the MLIS

Delaware to Expand Statewide Telehealth Program | ALA Annual 2022

Tour de France: A Watching, Reading, and Listening Guide | Your Home Librarian

There Are No Lanes: Rural Libraries Do It ALL | Backtalk

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

Journal Article: "Public Libraries as Community Health Partners"

The article linked below was recently published by Certified Public Manager® Applied Research Title Public Libraries as Community Health Partners Authors Melinda HodgesLibrary Director, Buda Public Library, City of Buda ...

New Research Article: "How Policies Portray Students: A Discourse Analysis of Codes of Conduct in Academic Libraries"

The article linked below appears in the July 2022 issue of College & Research Libraries. Title How Policies Portray Students: A Discourse Analysis of Codes of Conduct in Academic Libraries ...

Florida International University (FIU) Launches Open-Access Forensic Research Library

From FIU Announcement: Florida International University (FIU) has launched a first-of-its-kind resource for forensic science practitioners, students, researchers, and the general public. The Research Forensic Library provides access to thousands ...

"Book Banning and the First Amendment" (Video Recording of a Freedom Forum Event)

The video recording of Freedom Forum event about about book banning and the First Amendment was recorded at the Library of Congress on June 21, 2022. The discussion features: Suzanne ...

Educopia Partnering with Curtin University and OAPEN to Create a Community Governed OA Book Analytics Service for Publishers

From an Educopia Announcement: With more than AUD $1M in support from the Mellon Foundation, we at Educopia are excited to be working with collaborative partners at Curtin University  and ...

Just Released: U.S. Copyright Office Publishes Report on Copyright Protections For Press Publishers

From the U.S. Copyright Office: On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Copyright Office published a report titled Copyright Protections for Press Publishers. At the request of Senators Leahy, Tillis, Cornyn, ...

U.S. Census Releases 2021 Population Estimates: Nation Continues to Age as It Becomes More Diverse

From the U.S. Census: The last two decades have seen the country grow continuously older. Since 2000, the national median age – the point at which one-half the population is ...

Vision 2030: Library and Archives Canada Releases New Strategic Plan

From the LAC Website: Following two years of consultations, reflection and work, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has unveiled its strategic plan, Vision 2030, defining the institution’s goals until 2030 ...

Journal Article: "The Financial Maintenance of Social Science Data Archives: Four Case Studies of Long-Term Infrastructure Work"

The article linked below was recently published by the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST). Title The Financial Maintenance of Social Science Data Archives: Four Case ...

Library Futures Releases Policy Statement and Draft eBook Legislative Language: Mitigating the Library eBook Conundrum Through Legislative Action...

From a Library Futures Post by Kyle Courtney and Juliya Ziskina: Library Futures is excited to announce that we are launching our policy statement on eBooks. Current eBook licensing practices ...

How Can Data Librarians Support Data Communities? An Interview with Jordan Wrigley

From the Ithaka S+R Interview by Dylan Ruediger and Ruby MacDougall: Data communities provide social and practical incentives for scientists to voluntarily share and reuse data with colleagues. In order ...

Roundup (June 30, 2022)

ALPSP Awards for Innovation in Publishing 2022: Shortlist Announced (via ALPSP) Library Publishing Coalition Welcomes University of Kansas  and University of Delaware as New Members (via LPC) NLM Responds to ...

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW INFODOCKET ON TWITTER

Tweets by @infodocket

ADVERTISEMENT

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • Programs+
  • Design
  • Leadership
  • People
  • COVID-19
  • Advocacy
  • Opinion
  • INFOdocket
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Booklists
  • Prepub Alert
  • Book Pulse
  • Media
  • Readers' Advisory
  • Self-Published Books
  • Review Submissions
  • Review for LJ

Awards

  • Library of the Year
  • Librarian of the Year
  • Movers & Shakers 2022
  • Paralibrarian of the Year
  • Best Small Library
  • Marketer of the Year
  • All Awards Guidelines
  • Community Impact Prize

Resources

  • LJ Index/Star Libraries
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies

Events & PD

  • Online Courses
  • In-Person Events
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Submit Features/News
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Careers at MSI


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.