Twitter is on the move but Facebook still tops the tree

New research from Ipsos MediaCT’s Tech Tracker shows that over 4 in 10 adults have used Facebook (44%) and YouTube (44%) in the past 3 months. 17% have visited or used Google+ (the Google social network site), 13% Twitter and 7% Linkedin. PC/laptop is the main access method for social networking although the gap is closing with 22% accessing social networks on their mobile. Only 2% access social networking via a TV connected to the internet.

The profile of Facebook users when compared to the national population is slightly more female with a younger age base. Demographic profile. Twitter users are young: two thirds of them are aged under 35. They are also more likely to be C1 social grade and very mobile: 82% of them own a smartphone, 22% a tablet.

Linkedin is a more specific social network: its users skew towards males (58%), are much older than on other networks (4 in 10 are between 35 and 54) and half are social grade AB. Consequently, the ownership level for tablets is three times higher than the country average.

Director of Ipsos MediaCT, Gavin Sugden, said:

“Many of us like to have our social networks at our fingertips no matter where we are. We are accessing Social networking sites on a number of different devices, ranging from PCs, smartphones, tablets, connected TVs, and a minority via their games console. Facebook is still the dominant site, with nearly half of all adults having visited Facebook, a similar proportion to YouTube, in the 3 months to April. 69% of those accessing Facebook have a smartphone which starts to explain the proliferation of social networking usage whilst out and about, feeding the insatiable appetite to broadcast, and keep connected with others.”

• Our latest Tech Tracker in PDF and interactive form is at www.ipsos-mori.com/techtracker