Survey: Americans spending more time on more social networks

Good news for lawyers and other professionals sharing insight and commentary via blogs.

The percentage of online adults moving news, information, and insight via social network sites continues to grow. This per the 2014 Social Media Site Usage Survey released today by the Pew Research Center.

While Facebook’s growth has slowed, its level of user engagement continues to climb. The number of online adults using Twitter and LinkedIn grew significantly, at over 27% for each.

The growth over the last three years becomes very clear when charted.

Findings that Pew found particularly interesting include:

•  52% of online adults use two or more social media sites, a significant increase from 2013, when it stood at 42% of internet users.
• For the first time, more than half of all online adults 65 and older (56%) use Facebook. This represents 31% of all seniors.
• For the first time, roughly half of internet-using young adults ages 18-29 (53%) use Instagram. And half of all Instagram users (49%) use the site daily.
• For the first time, the share of internet users with college educations using LinkedIn reached 50%.
• Women dominate Pinterest: 42% of online women now use the platform, compared with 13% of online men.

Here’s some findings I pulled from the survey’s summary that blogging lawyers ought to find of interest.

Look at where you’ll find the most engaged audience, something to consider when looking to build relationships and word of mouth founded on trust.

• Facebook rules in engagement, with 70% of its users engaging with the site daily (45% several times a day), a significant increase from the 63% who did so in 2013.
• 36% of Twitter users visit the site daily, representing a 10-point decrease from the 46% who did so in 2013.
• The 13% of LinkedIn users who engage with the platform daily is unchanged from 2013, the proportion of users who use the site weekly or less often increased significantly. There may be more users, but they are logging on less frequently.

One social network will not be enough if you’re looking to engage your audience. People are using multiple social networks.

• 52% of online adults use two or more social media sites, a significant increase from the 42% who did so in 2013.
• Significantly fewer adults use just one site — 28% compared with 36% last year.
• Facebook acts as “home base,” being the most popular site for those who only use one, and has significant overlap with other platforms.
• 79% of those who use just one site report using Facebook.
•  A significant majority of Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn users also use Facebook, more than any other site.
• The proportion of Facebook users who also use another site is on the rise.

The big take away for lawyers is that these social networks move thought leadership, information, news, and commentary. You are not building word of mouth and relationships as a good lawyer on these networks unless you are publishing your own insight and commentary on a blog.

After all, the people on these social networks are sharing content. That’s how people build relationships and get known on social networks. In your case, blog content.

As a law blogger, more people moving more niche relevant information and commentary on social networks is gold. In time, you’ll find that more people will discover you and your blog posts on social networks than on Google.

Image courtesy of Flickr by woodleywonderworks