Usage of Social Media

There's absolutely no doubt that social networks continue to play an increasingly important part in many people's lives.
Social media usage varies from place to place and from one demographic to the next. A Pew Internet survey found that 65 percent of Internet users in the U.S. used social networking sites, up from 61 percent the previous year. Sixty-one percent of adults under 30 reported that they used a social networking site at least once on a typical day while daily usage among Internet users aged between 50-64 rose sharply, from 20 percent in 2010 to 32 percent last year.
Alongside personal usage, more businesses are taking advantage of the benefits social media sites can offer.
As the use of social media continues to grow and become more prevalent, it becomes increasingly important to look at social media usage statistics to help predict future trends.
Having an idea of who, where what and why people are using social media can help people who use social media for business and those who use it for leisure increase their social media experience.

Social Media Usage Statistics for 2012:

Here is some statistics according to Nielson report,about how people use social media and when they use it.

• The total time spent online in the US is up 21%
• PCs are still the device used the most for internet access, but the audience using them
• Those aged 18-24 spend the most time using PCs for social networking out of all age   groups, whereas ages 25-34 spend the most time on mobile than other groups
• Mobile web usage is up 82% since July last year, and mobile app usage is up 85%
• Social apps are particularly popular, with consumers increasing their social app time by 76%, and spending more than seven times more minutes on apps than on mobile web
• We still use computers most often for social media use – 94% of people use PCs, but other devices are also increasing – notably tablets, which are used by 16% of people, up from 3% last year
• Social networks still dominate internet usage, with 20% of PC time and 30% of mobile time spent on them: over any other category of site
• Facebook still tops social networks as the most used, but was down 4% year-on-year
• Females spend more time social networking than males
• People aged 25-34 are most likely to use social media in the office
• 41% of tablet owners and 38% of smartphone owners use their device daily while watching TV
• Facebook is the most common platform used to seek out customer service, followed by company blogs and then Twitter

1. This infographic (posted bellow) includes statistical information about the usage of social media in 2012.
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