America's Most Popular Social Media Platform?

What is the most popular social media platform in the United States?

The Pew Research Center carried out a survey about social media use among US adults in early January 2018. Their results were a surprise. The King is dead! Long live the King!

Related Article: Why Advertisers Prefer Instagram Over Snapchat?

Social Media Use

In 2016, Pew found that 79% of adults who are online in the US used Facebook. Instagram came in second with a distant 32% score.

This year Pew asked a different question. Instead of looking at online adults, they reported data about all US adults. By this metric, Facebook held steady at 68% of all adults in both 2016 and 2018.

However, Facebook came in second this year. Pew reported that 73% of all adults use YouTube. Whether or not YouTube topped Facebook in 2016 is unknown because Pew didn’t include Google’s video channel in its 2016 survey.

All the other social media platforms Pew included in this year's survey came in far behind the two leaders. The other platforms in descending order were Instagram (35%), Pinterest (29%), Snapchat (27%), LinkedIn (25%), Twitter (24%) and WhatsApp (22%).

Related Article: The Exponential Growth Of Social Media?

In addition to YouTube, Snapchat and WhatsApp were not included in Pew’s 2016 survey.

All of the others with the exception of Instagram attracted about the same percentage of adults in 2018 as in 2016. Instagram usage grew from 28% to 35% over the two-year period.

Most US adults use more than one social media platform. The median adult uses three of the eight platforms Pew examined. YouTube also led the multi-use rankings. At least 87% of the users of each of the other platforms also use YouTube. WhatsApp was the least used “other” platform.

While more adults use YouTube than any other platform, they use it less frequently than some of the other social media websites. Seventy-four percent of Facebook users visit the website every day with 51% visiting several times a day. Snapchat followed with 63% of users visiting daily and 49% visiting several times a day. Less than half of YouTube users (45%) visit the site every day and only 29% visit more than once a day.

Related Article: Social Media Platforms For YOUR Career?

Demographics

Not surprisingly, social media use skews toward the young. Here are the percentages of people in different age groups that report using at least one social media platform.

Fully 94% of adults between 18 and 24 use YouTube compared to only 56% of adults 50 and older. In addition to YouTube, young adults aged 18 to 24 use Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter more than by any other age group.

Facebook users stand out for consistency of use across age groups. Approximately 80% of adults from 18 to 49 use Facebook. Fifty-five percent of people 50 and older use Facebook, about the same percentage of this age group that uses YouTube. Snapchat was the least used by older adults with only 7% of people aged 50 or older reporting they use the platform.

Pew found several other notable demographic differences in the users of social media platforms. For example, 41% of women say they use Pinterest compared to only 16% of men.

Related Article: How Facebook's Changes Impact YOUR Social Media Marketing?

One wonders if Pinterest’s reputation as a social media platform for women might lead some men to say they don’t visit the website when in fact they do.

Many surveys reported on the Internet present their results as reliable and meaningful even though they’re based on samples of convenience or pools of people who sign up to take surveys in return for payment. Pew’s work is different. Their research is based on sound methodology and they are always careful to avoid drawing conclusions that are not supported by the data they’ve collected. There’s much more of interest in the Pew report on Social Media Use in 2018 and interested readers are encouraged to check it out.

Guest Authored By Kevin Murnane. Kevin is cognitive scientist, retired professor, gamer and avid cyclist with a B.A. in History, an M.S. in History and Philosophy of Science, and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology. In addition to papers in professional scientific journals, He's written the book Nutrition for Cyclists: Eating and Drinking Before and After the Ride, articles for Ars Technica, Priceonomics, Psychology Today, Massively, and the blogs The Info Monkey and Tuned in To Cycling. He covers science, technology and video games for Forbes. Follow Kevin on Twitter.

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"Facebook came in second this year.

Pew reported that 73% of all adults use YouTube.

Whether or not YouTube topped Facebook in 2016 is unknown because Pew didn’t include Google’s video channel in its 2016 survey." -KevinMurnane

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBr@nd.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;).

Why Social Media Influencers Prefer Instagram?

As of last September, the Facebook property had 800 million monthly active users..

Related Article: The Exponential Growth Of Social Media?

In recent years, the popularity of social networks has seen the emergence of the social media influencer.

Influencers have large followings on social networks, and are often hired by companies to promote their brands.

This type of advertising, which is similar to a product placement in a show or movie, is considered more personal and less invasive than traditional advertising. Influencers use a wide variety of social platforms, but a recent survey by influencer platform Zine found that Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) Instagram was still the favorite.

Instagram, which had 800 million monthly active users as of last September, offers a simple and visual way for influencers to deliver messages via single photos and short videos. The total number of influencer posts on Instagram also nearly doubled annually to over 1.5 million posts in 2017, according to influencer marketing firm Klear.

Related Article: YOUR Efficient 2018 Influencer Marketing?

Traditional blogs remain surprisingly relevant, thanks to their dedicated followings.

However, the three other platforms -- YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest -- aren't attracting influencers. That's likely because YouTube videos require more time to produce, Facebook's News Feed prioritizes family and friends, and Pinterest is more frequently used for pinning personal interests than following influencers.

Guest Authored By Leo Sun. Leo is a Technology Specialist at The Motley Fool who focuses on IoT, Cloud, Big Data, Mobile and Gaming. Follow Leo on Twitter.

Related Article: The BIG Business Of Social Media Influencers?

"Traditional blogs remain surprisingly relevant, thanks to their dedicated followings. However, the three other platforms -- YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest -- aren't attracting influencers.." -LeoSun

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, CO  where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Making YOUR Social Media Life Less Stressful?

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when "social media" was adding glitter GIFs to your MySpace profile or making your AIM away message the perfect passage of song lyrics..

Now, it’s full-blown universe, the ecosystem for all news, comedy, hot takes, memes, and, not to mention, an abundance of anxiety.

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In their "Stress in America" report, the American Psychological Association found that those who constantly check their texts, email, and social media -- about 86% of Americans -- are more stressed than those who aren't as tech-dependent. This kind of unease stems from our neurological wiring; without visual, emotional and social cues, we’re more likely to misconstrue certain emails, Facebook posts, or tweets and alert the fight or flight part of our brain in the process.

"Our brains are not built at all for dealing well with text-based communication, which is hilarious because that is what our lives are now," says Deanna Zandt, a media technologist and the author of Share This! How You Will Change the World With Social Networking. "Without [body language and tone], incoming communications go straight to our amygdala, which is our fight or flight center. When you see something that upsets you on the internet, it’s going to give you the feeling that a cheetah is chasing you across the plains. It actually feels like you are personally under attack."

But because of the other neurological side-effect -- the dopamine boost that comes with an online interaction -- it makes it hard to just up and quit the internet. So instead of throwing up your hands and weathering the kill-or-be-killed conditions of your feeds or going on the offensive, take some concrete steps to de-stress your socials.

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Start With Your Device

Think about where you’re accessing social media, then make it harder for yourself to get there. Zandt suggests turning off notifications on social apps, or one step further, deleting them altogether.

"Make it difficult for yourself to log in and check in," she says. "Give yourself some stumbling blocks rather than have this default setting be available to you."

Customize Your Feeds

On Twitter, create lists comprised of "essential" accounts, like family and friends, and make that your go-to feed. That way, you’re not stuck in a waterfall of tweets and treading water to keep up. Taking advantage of Twitter’s mute option prevents you from seeing certain words, phrases, hashtags, and accounts. If you’re looking to take more extensive measures, there’s Block Together, an app that allows you to subscribe to another Twitter user’s list of blocked accounts. You can also share your block list for other users to follow.

For Facebook, where feed customization is algorithm-based (and whose said algorithm is soon changing), there’s the News Feed Eradicator plugin that transforms your newsfeed into an inspiring quote.

Related Article: How Facebook's Changes Impact YOUR Social Media Marketing?

Stay Off Socials During A Breaking News Situation

While you think social media taps you into the most up-to-date info, you’re only stressing yourself out by closely following the breaking-news deluge. Researchers from the University of California, Irvine found that during a crisis (in this case, an active shooter lockdown on a university campus) people who received unofficial or conflicting information from social media reported higher levels of stress.

"When official information is not readily available, people are going to look at information wherever they can," says Nickolas Jones, a doctoral student at UC Irvine and the senior author of the study. "And there are consequences to being exposed to that information, especially if it’s false."

Jones also recommends taking social media messages with a grain of salt. Unless it’s coming from an official source, it’s OK to feel skeptical, and that being too trusting can compound your stress levels. "We found that people who use five or more social media platforms and who trusted the information that they saw, those were the people who reported the most distress about this event in the aftermath of it," Jones says.

Related Article: Future-Proof YOUR Social Media Marketing Career?

Curb Your Curiosity

Humans are naturally curious, and social media feeds the habit. But having a wealth of easily searchable material available on platforms -- some of which can be disturbing, like live amateur coverage of mass shootings or terror attacks -- makes our access to upsetting details a little too simple. Jones studies the psychological consequences that come from seeing some of these images and video, and the results aren’t peachy.

"Study after study that we do shows that there’s a negative association with seeing graphic content and experiencing distress symptoms," he says. "I think it’s really important for people in those situations to really ask themselves if they want to see something they can’t unsee."

Or pages that post videos of baby animals or cooking videos. Whatever gets you laughing or feeds your Zen. Tiny Care Bot dispatches multiple reminders to help you chill while the uber-popular We Rate Dogs combines absurdist humor and pups. Smash that follow button and flood your feeds with joy instead of doom.

Related Article: YOUR Audience Response Social Media?

Set A Time Limit

Jones sets parameters for how long he spends on social media: about an hour a day. If you find yourself frequently upset at rapid-fire opinions and political volleying, determine the max amount of time you’d need to catch up on the happenings without feeling stressed. To curb any concerns about missing too much, Zandt suggests all-encompassing news podcasts like NPR’s Up First and The New York Times’ The Daily.

Realize That if the World is Going to End, Someone Will Tell You

Sure, people will be tweeting through the end of the world, but what will that accomplish? You’ll likely find out about it the old-fashioned way.

"Someone’s going to call you," Zandt says. "Someone close to you is going to text you and say ‘Did you hear the world is ending?’"

Guest Authored By Allie Volpe. Allie is a writer based in Philadelphia. She has contributed to Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, Glamour, and more. Follow Allie on Twitter.

Related Article: How YOU Expose Yourself To Social Media Threats?

"The power of advertising for your business cannot be underestimated. But remember, you don’t need to break the bank to get there.

Stick to these simple tips to be resourceful with your message and spread the word about your unique value.." -Anuja Khemka

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBr@nd.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, CO  where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Social Media For Musicians?

The ability to follow celebrities has always been my least favorite feature on Twitter. Don't get me wrong. It might work for some people. But for me, it was never more than an annoyance because of how hard Twitter pushes celebrity accounts that you have absolutely zero interest in..

Whereas Facebook encourages you to socialize within your circle of interest after you first create an account, Twitter bombards you with a series of famous handles to follow, even though they might be of no substance to you at all. This feature comes off as confusing and misleading, and, sometimes ends up scaring new users away. However, offering up a social media platform as a means to stay in touch with your favorite celebs, doesn't always end in failure.

Related Article: Instagram For YOUR Small Business?

In fact, this very strategy turned out very profitable for MySpace, which has been fighting to stay relevant ever since it was ousted by Facebook as the most popular social media platform of the moment. Founded in 2003 by users of the social gaming outlet Friendster, MySpace was designed with a glossy interface in mind in an attempt to attract younger users.

The site gained immense popularity amongst teenagers and young adults and was used intensively as a way of staying in touch with your friends and staying up-to-date with the activities of your favorite celebs.

During its glory years, MySpace was the single largest social media site in the United States, with a unique visitor count that surpassed even Google. However, as is often the case with things that are new and shiny, the social media giant began to lose relevance around 2008, soon overtaken by Facebook in terms of both unique visitors and registered users.

After losing its foothold as the most popular social platform amongst youngsters, MySpace struggled to develop a rebranding strategy that could help it stay relevant in the eyes of its users. In 2012, it completely redesigned itself as a social media platform catered exclusively to artists and their fans, though music was the genre in which it shined most.

While MySpace may not continue to command the same amount of authority that it once did, the rebranding strategy did help it survive its struggle for continued relevance, and the site is one of today's more interesting destinations to stay up-to-date with the works of your favorite musicians. However, it still doesn't come close to competing with the more popular celebrity destinations at the time, such as YouTube.

Related Article: 2017 Media Marketing Tech?

As the largest video sharing platform on the internet, YouTube has always been set for success. Not only has it given existing celebrities a way to communicate personally with their fans, it has even allowed talented individuals from amongst the masses to rise to stardom in the form of actors, singers, songwriters, musicians and artists.

Some of the most popular pop singers of today once started out with nothing but a YouTube channel, while some of the largest musicians of the time get to stay in touch with their fans thanks to the personalized clips they upload every day by the platform.

Unlike physical marketing, promoting a release online gives musicians the unique opportunity to connect directly with their fans and market themselves directly before an already receptive market. By releasing previews for their latest albums on YouTube and putting them up for purchase digitally on iTunes, they create an environment where they can entirely forego the need for a middleman and market directly to the fans who love them and the followers who appreciate them.

Related Article: True Marketing Value From Social Media?

While the idea is still pretty new with no particular formula for success, online marketing for musicians has sprouted in all directions in the little time that it has been there.

We already have social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace being used by musicians to propagate their work, exclusive platforms like Gigrev helping musicians market themselves directly to audiophiles, video sharing platforms like YouTube and Vine offering a medium to tease out new albums, digital subscription services like Deezer and Spotify marketing entire albums to fans and digital stores like Google Play and iTunes providing a ready market for premium albums and singles from popular artists.

Ever since its early years, the internet has always been a great platform for artists with a talent for showmanship. While 'going viral' is hardly as easy as it is made to sound, the internet still offers artists a fabulous platform to reach out to a huge number of potential admirers and opens them up to a lot of opportunities.

Guest Authored By Harold Stark. Harold is an independent journalist with a penchant for the cutting edge, he's been writing about the influence of technology on popular culture for quite some time. Currently, he's out covering lifestyle technology for the Huffington Post and Forbes Magazine. Follow Harold on Twitter.

Related Article: Growing YOUR Social Media Influence?

"In 2017, the internet isn't nice, it isn't forgiving, but if there is one thing it is good at, it is the ability to appreciate talent when it sees it.

No wonder, some of the most successful musicians of the time have the internet to thank for their popularity.."

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Los Angeles, CA where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

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