1. What were the top three social media sites, in terms of traffic, in 21-22? List them in order of popularity.

In terms of traffic and popularity, here is what I found to be true for social media.

• Facebook is at the top of the list with almost 3 billion monthly users
• After FB, comes Youtube which sees on average 2.2 billion monthly users
• Instagram and WhatsApp are in a close tie with 2 billion monthly users. I am going to choose Instagram for the focus of today. I feel like it continues to be extremely well-known and popular.

2. Provide a brief summary of how each social media site works and why people use it.

• Facebook is a social networking platform that allows users to create a free profile account and connect with friends and family. On this platform, you can share your photos or text-only posts. You can also interact with and like others’ posts. Both video and photo can be shared, as well as the capability to go live, join groups, and follow business pages.
• Youtube is a video-sharing platform where long videos can be shared and people can subscribe to stay up to date with people they enjoy watching. It is owned by google you can watch, like, share, and create your own channel and upload videos.
• Instagram used to be primarily a photo-sharing platform but has evolved into more and more video content as well. Similar to FB, you can create a free profile account and share your own content as well as interact with and share other users’ content. It has a large visual focus and you cannot post text-only posts.

3. What are “demographics” and why is it important in social media?

Demographics are statistical ways we describe populations – specifically people in this case. Their characteristics and the population are studied and with that comes data about things such as employment, education, sex, ethnicity, etc.

4. Explain any demographics that stand out among the three social media sites you listed above. (More popular with a specific age group, are the majority of users male or female, married or single, employees or self-employed, etc.)

Young people – mid-teens to young adults as well as moms I feel like gravitate towards Instagram over Facebook moms, teens, influencers, and freelancers, seem to enjoy Instagram. Facebook seems to attract older people mid 30’s and up and has been around longer. They reach parents, business owners, and oftentimes grandparents. Youtube truly reaches a very wide audience because there is so much content for all types of people. Definitely mid-teens and the younger generation seem to be getting the most use from it, but there is a fair bit of use from the older generation as well. People who want to learn or be entertained often visit Youtube.

5. 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.

On average, people spend about 147 minutes a day on social media which is about 2.5 hours daily. It is also reported that people spend about half their time on their phones using social media. Around 78% of Americans have and use social media regularly.

6. Which of the three social media networks is growing the fastest? Why do you think that is?

TikTok seems to be growing the fastest right now because of the trends going around and the fact so many people are enjoying video content and being entertained this way. It has also become a hobby for some to create and share videos on this platform. Facebook continues to hold strong for being the most used.

7. How are the majority of visitors accessing these three sites (computer, mobile device, tablet)?

Phones are at the top of the list because of their ease and quick access. Computers are often used for Youtube and Facebook if larger screens for communicating or watching videos are helpful. 

Research:

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

The Most Popular Social Media Platforms in 2024 (+How to Harness Their Popularity)

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media/biggest-social-media-sites/#close

https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-much-time-does-the-average-person-spend-on-social-mediahttps://techjury.net/blog/time-spent-on-social-media/