Pew Research Releases New Social Media and Mobile Messaging Usage Data (2015)

Findings were released today in a new report by Maeve Dugan at the Pew Research Center.
From the Summary/News Release:

Fully 36% of smartphone owners use messaging apps such as Kik or iMessage, and another 17% use apps that automatically delete sent messages like Snapchat or Wickr, according to a new national Pew Research Center survey.

The survey of more than 1,900 U.S. adults finds that these apps are particularly popular among young adults—49% of smartphone owners ages 18-29 use messaging apps, and 41% say they use apps that automatically delete sent messages.

The study found that the proportion of online adults who use Pinterest and Instagram has doubled since 2012. Some 31% of online adults use Pinterest (up from 15% in 2012); while 28% use Instagram (up from 13% in 2012). However, none of the social media platforms measured in this survey experienced a statistically significant increase in usage between September 2014 and April 2015.
While overall usage has not changed, some sites have seen a significant uptick in daily engagement. Indeed, 59% of Instagram users are on the platform daily—a 10-point increase from September 2014. Similarly, the proportion of Pinterest users who visit the platform daily rose from 17% in September 2014 to 27% in April 2015, and the proportion of daily users on LinkedIn increased from 13% to 22% over the same time period.

The survey finds that Facebook remains the most popular social media site with 72% of online adults saying they use it, although there has not been a significant change in the overall share of users since 2012. Those on Facebook are highly engaged, with 70% saying they log on daily, including 43% who do so several times a day.

A much smaller percentage of online adults use discussion forums. Some 15% of internet users read or comment in discussion forums like reddit, Digg, or Slashdot, while 10% use the website Tumblr. Young adults are particularly likely to use both Tumblr and discussion forums more generally, while men are more likely than women to participate in discussion forums online.

These findings are based on telephone interviews conducted March 17 – April 12, 2015, among a national sample of 1,907 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Of the full sample, 1,612 are internet users.

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See Also: Twitter Demographics Chart and Direct to All Charts

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