Skip to main content

Social media isn’t just for youngsters anymore, new research finds

While senior citizens are often perceived as lost and uninterested when it comes to social media, new Pew Research Center data suggests that social media isn’t just for 18 to 29-year-olds. Although young adults do make up the age group most likely to use social media, 35 percent of seniors (65 and older) are not only using social media, but state they are comfortable with it.

When compared to the 90 percent of young adults utilizing social media on a regular basis, 35 percent might seem low. But that is not at all so if you consider that in 2010, only 11 percent of seniors used social media, and 2 percent did in 2005.

Recommended Videos

One explanation for the growth is the increasing use of mobile devices among seniors. Other explanations include workplace requirements, and the ability to connect with friends and loved ones — especially when family members don’t live nearby. Social networking, in general, is also impossible to avoid considering the popularity of Facebook, which now includes nearly 1.5 billion users and still accounts for a large chunk of time spent on digital media.

It isn’t just this demographic that is increasing, either. According to the Pew Research study, overall social media use has increased across nearly all groups between 2005 and 2015. The group showing the most growth includes non-college graduates, increasing from just 4 percent in 2005 to 54 percent in 2015. And, in the past, while men were more likely to use social media than women, the numbers are now nearly even, with 68 percent of women and 62 percent of men reporting.

The survey found, however, that people with lower levels of education and lower incomes are still less likely to use social media. Of those with a high school diploma or less, 54 percent say they partake, versus 76 percent of those with higher-education degrees and 70 percent of those with some college education. When looking at households with incomes of less than $30,000, 56 percent say they use social media, versus 78 percent for those with more than $75,000. Still, even in these groups, the numbers have increased sharply since 2005.

Christina Majaski
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Christina has written for print and online publications since 2003. In her spare time, she wastes an exorbitant amount of…
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more