LinkedIn, Pinterest more popular than Twitter among adult followers in US: Study

LinkedIn and Pinterest attracted more US adult followers than Twitter, which attracted a greater proportion of blacks and young adults than did its social media peers, a Pew Research Center study released yesterday showed.

Photo pin-up site Pinterest rose to its highest in popularity over the past year, the survey which polled 1,445 Internet users aged 18 and older showed. The survey showed around 21 per cent of respondents, used site's service, which was up sharply from 15 per cent in a similar survey conducted a year ago.

The corresponding figure was 22 per cent for LinkedIn and 18 per cent for Twitter, which held steady from a year ago. About 29 per cent of the blacks surveyed by Pew made use of Twitter, which was much higher than the 16 per cent for whites and Hispanics, the study showed.

Twitter scored over Pinterest in terms of engagement, though 46 per cent of users surveyed went to the messaging service daily, as against only 23 per cent for Pinterest and just 13 per cent for LinkedIn.

According to industry experts, Twitter was less intuitive than Facebook and thus could turn off users, curtailing its growth as a mainstream social media platform.

Meanwhile, Facebook's strongest growth over the past year has been fuelled by users over 65, who had signed on to the site to keep in touch with their friends, children and grandchildren, according to the Pew Center for Internet and American Life survey released yesterday.

According to the survey 45 per cent of US seniors who used the internet were on Facebook, up from 35 per cent the previous year. The social network grew for all adults over 30, and it was used by 71 per cent of Americans, an increase from 67 percent last year.

Teens, though seem to be losing interest in the site as use stagnated at 84 per cent. The percentage of those between 18 and 29 who used the site was down two percentage points as against last year, the survey revealed.

That squared with growing concern that Facebook was seeing lower engagement with the younger users who drove its early popularity, something that had been acknowledged by the company.

According to Pew senior researcher Aaron Smith, Facebook may be a victim of its own success after nearly 10 years as the country's leading social network.

He added, it was hard to get more than 85 per cent of anyone doing anything. He added, a lot of the easy converts in the younger group, or even in the older and middle-aged group, were already on the site and the senior group was the only area that had any substantial area for growth.