Week 5- Understanding Social Media Demographics

  1. What were the top three social media sites, in terms of traffic, in 2019-20? List them in order of popularity.
    1. According to dreamgrow.com, most recently updated on April 9, 2020, Facebook came in first place with 2,500,000,000 monthly active users. YouTube came in second place with 2,000,000,000 monthly active users. Instagram came in first place with 1,000,000,000 monthly active users.

 

https://www.dreamgrow.com/top-15-most-popular-social-networking-sites/

 

  1. Provide a brief summary of how each social media site works and why people use it. 
    1. Social media describes websites that “connect people and involve user generated content.” They use an algorithm to connect you with people with similar interests, likes and to boost followers of people you may have mutual followers with. People use social media for many different reasons; To stay in touch with friends and family, stay up to date on the latest trends, shop, inspiration, learn, teach, sports highlights, news, it’s endless!
    2. “Facebook is a website which allows users, who sign-up for free profiles, to connect with friends, work colleagues or people they don’t know, online. It allows users to share pictures, music, videos, and articles, as well as their own thoughts and opinions with however many people they like.” People use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family, stay up to date on the latest trends, shop, inspiration, learn, teach, sports highlights, news, it’s endless!
    3. “Instagram is a free photo and video sharing app available on iPhone and Android. People can upload photos or videos to our service and share them with their followers or with a select group of friends. They can also view, comment and like posts shared by their friends on Instagram. Anyone 13 and older can create an account by registering an email address and selecting a username.”People use Instagram to stay in touch with friends and family, stay up to date on the latest trends, shop, inspiration, learn, teach, sports highlights, news.
    4. “YouTube allows users to upload, view, rate, share, add to playlists, report, comment on videos, and subscribe to other users. It offers a wide variety of user-generated and corporate media videos. Available content includes video clips, TV show clips, music videos, short and documentary films, audio recordings, movie trailers, live streams, and other content such as video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos.” People use YouTube to  stay up to date on the latest trends, shop, inspiration, learn, teach, sports highlights, news and more.

 

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/social-media-overview-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it-2531971

Explained: What is Facebook?

https://help.instagram.com/424737657584573

 

  1. What are “demographics” and why is it important in social media?
    1. com defines demographics by “the study of a population based on factors such as age, race, and gender, and their socio-economic information such as employment, education, income, etc. In social media it’s important that demographics are pursued and promoted throughout each platform because the more diverse the demographic the more people that information or products/services can be promoted, and they know what to promote to users based on their own user content and the demographic they represent through that.

 

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/demographics.asp

 

  1. Explain any demographics that stand out among the three social media sites you listed above. (More popular with a specific age group, are majority of user’s male or female, married or single, employees or self-employed, etc.)
    1. This table I found on pewresearch.com created by Andrew Perrin and Monica Anderson, displays this information in a nice, easy to understand way.
Facebook YouTube Instagram
U.S. Adults

Usage Percentage

 69% 73% 37%
Gender
Men 63 78 31
Women 75 68 43
Ethnicity
White 70 71 33
Black 70 77 40
Hispanic 69 78 51
Ages
18-29 79 91 67
      18-24 76 90 75
      25-29 84 93 57
30-49 79 87 47
50-64 68 70 23
65+ 46 38 8
Median Income
<$30,000 61 68 31
$30,000-$74,999 72 75 39
$75,000+ 74 83 42
Education
High School or less 61 64 33
Some College 75 79 37
College+ 74 80 43
Lifestyle
Urban 73 77 46
Suburban 69 74 35
Rural 66 64 21

 

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/10/share-of-u-s-adults-using-social-media-including-facebook-is-mostly-unchanged-since-2018/

 

  1. On average, how much time do users spend on each social media site during a day, week or month? Provide a resource that supports your answer. 
    1. The daily time spent on Facebook is 58 minutes. The weekly amount would be 406 minutes. The average monthly time would be 1,740 minutes.
    2. The daily time spent on YouTube is 40 minutes. The weekly amount would be 280 minutes. The average monthly time would be 1,200 minutes.
    3. The daily time spent on Instagram is 53 minutes. The weekly amount would be 371 minutes. The average monthly time would be 1,590 minutes.

https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/average-daily-time-on-social-media

  1. Which of the three social media networks is growing the fastest? Why do you think that is?
    1. Although Facebook is the largest social media platform, Instagram is the one of the fastest growing social media platforms according to influencermartketinghub.com. I think it’s the fastest growing because it’s popular with younger generations and the older generations want to be a part of what younger generations are doing. This platform includes tons of features that appeal to everyone. You can post pictures, videos, stories, IGTV, shopping links, and more!

 

https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-sites/

 

 

  1. How are the majority of visitors accessing these three sites (computer, mobile device, tablet)?
    1. According to pewresearch.org a majority of visitors are accessing these sites on their cellphones.

 

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/

 

 

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