Social Media in 2013: User Demographics For Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram

Leo Widrich -

Out of all internet users 67% are using social networks. And which kind of demographic uses which social network has been forever interesting for marketers. Some of the latest insights from Pew Research centers reveals the latest stats.

Twitter is still used more than Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr. Also, African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely to use Twitter than Whites, according to the study.

Most of the findings are in line with what you might expect and some are truly surprising. For example, people living in cities spend the most time on Social Media, at 70% of the population. And women, on average, spend 9% more time on social networking sites than men.

Let’s dive into a further breakdown of the stats:

So, who is the average Facebook user? According to the research, it’s a young, 25 year-old woman, living in a big city, with a college degree and a household income of more than $75k a year.

Interestingly, here at Buffer, we’ve just completed a similar research to find out more about demographics of our users. Who is your average Buffer user? Here are two key ones we found

1.) Young male (we called him Guru Gordon) in his late 20s, early 30s). He has a college degree and reads a lot of business and political publications. You’d probably call him a “gadget freak,” and he’s a self-proclaimed “life hacker” who loves finding ways to be successful and get the most out of life. He’s in his late 20s, early 30s.
  • 2.) Community Cathy: Cathy uses social media to spread information about a cause and interact with other people in the community that share an interest in that cause. She reads Mashable and the Huffington Post and has way too many clothes in her closet. She’s probably in her twenties, but she may be in her early thirties.

So what about other details, age groups, demographics and more? Here are all the details on it:

What do you think of the latest user demographic research? Are their any key insights you can take away and use for your business? I’d love your thoughts on this!

Quick note: We’ve got a few secret, new Buffer features to share images directly from a page and more.