During the past four years, almost all of the major social media platforms, or at least the one consistently tracked by Pew Research surveys, have seen a significant increase in the proportion of U.S. adults who use them. Facebook, thought it remains the most popular social media site among Internet users, was the only platform not to see significant growth among Internet users since 2012. Today, 72% of online adults use Facebook, a change that is not statistically significant from the 67% who did so in 2012.
Other sites, such as Pinterest and Instagram (which is owned by Facebook), have experienced significant growth between 2012 and 2015. Today 31% of online adults use Pinterest, up from 15% in 2012. Likewise, 28% of online adults use Instagram, a 15-point increase from the 13% of Internet users who did so in 2012. LinkedIn and Twitter both saw significant rates of growth, but at a slower pace. A quarter of online adults use LinkedIn, up from 20% in 2012. And some 23% of online adults use Twitter, a 7-point increase from the 16% who did so in 2012.
However, none of these platforms experienced a significant increase in usage between September 2014 and April 2015, show Pew figures. Here’s the breakdown, according to Pew Research:
ï‚· 72% of online American adults use Facebook, a proportion unchanged from September 2014.
ï‚· Some 31% of online adults use Pinterest, a proportion that is essentially unchanged from the 28% of online adults who did so in September 2014.
ï‚· Some 28% of online adults use Instagram, a proportion that is unchanged from the 26% of online adults who did so in September 2014.
ï‚· A quarter of online adults use LinkedIn, a proportion that is unchanged from the 28% of online adults who did so in September 2014.
ï‚· Some 23% of all online adults use Twitter, a proportion that is identical to the 23% of online adults who did so in September 2014.
While there were no changes in overall usership on any site when comparing data from the fall of 2014 and the spring of 2015, a few social media platforms did see an increase in user engagement, says Pew. The proportion of daily users on Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn increased significantly from 2014.
