Social networking continues to rise: study

The MTM's newest study found that social networking has not plateaued just yet, and usage is almost even on desktop and mobile.

It doesn’t appear that social networking has plateaued just yet.

According to the latest report from the Media Technology Monitor (MTM), which surveyed 4,000 Anglophone Canadians on their social media usage, social networking penetration is on the rise after three near-static years. As of spring 2017, 78% of Canadian anglophone internet users reported using some form of social networking, after three years at 75% penetration. Penetration over-indexed, perhaps unsurprisingly, with millennials and students.

Of those who reported using social networks, 58% said they check their networks more than once a day.

But while Canadians have their picks of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and more, half of Canadians only reported using one or two social networks, with 37% of Canadians reporting that they like to use the same social network that they used five years ago. The most popular social network by far is Facebook, with 72% of respondents saying they used the platform in the last month.

The next-most popular, LinkedIn, had less than half the usage rate, at 29%. It was followed by Instagram, at 27%. Twitter, Pinterest, Google+and Snapchat had all been used by less than a quarter of respondents in the last month, while Reddit and Tumblr had been used by less than 10%.

Facebook’s popularity continues to rise, having grown from 70% usage in 2016.

While LinkedIn’s usage may be small in comparison, the network could serve as a key destination for high-income audiences — it over-indexed with respondents with a household income of $200,000 or more (45%).

And, although Snapchat’s usage was smaller compared to the other apps, 50% of respondents in the Gen Z demographic (18 to 27) reported using the platform.

The study also found social network use to be almost equal between desktop and mobile (72% of users view on desktop; 71% on mobile).

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