Rely on LinkedIn for professional networking? Have a Facebook account or use Google+?
Chances are most of the rest of your world is right there with you:
The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has been studying online adults’ social networking site use since 2005, and has seen substantial growth since then. Today, 72% of online adults use social networking sites. Although younger adults continue to be the most likely social media users, one of the more striking stories about the social networking population has been the growth among older internet users in recent years. Those ages 65 and older have roughly tripled their presence on social networking sites in the last four years—from 13% in the spring of 2009 to 43% now.
—Pew Internet
The conclusion: If you’re online, you’re probably on a social networking site.
The Pew Internet report on use of social networks by online adults, based on fresh data from spring 2013, is fascinating. It shows that the relative likelihood of social network involvement is unrelated to gender, race/ethnicity, education level, household income, or urbanity. According to this chart from the Pew study, about the only differentiating factor is age:
However, the 65+ age group is currently the one in which social network involvement is increasing most rapidly.
