Infographic: Global Social Media Usage

Today, 40% of the world is connected to the internet and 73% of online adults are using social networks. As digital professionals you may well have asked yourself where are they and who are they.

Helpfully, agency IDF Marketing has taken a global snapshot of the internet and social media usage and summed up their findings in this infographic.

The biggest percentage of social media users are in the Americas and Oceania, where 44% of adults are using a social network. This is followed by Europe with 38% and Asia, which has 20% social penetration by region.

It’s no shock to discover that Facebook dominates social. The network has 1.23 billion monthly active users. Most of these (66%) are made up of millenials, those aged 15 to 34. Users on average spend 20 minutes a day on the site.

Google+ is gaining ground, with 402 million active monthly users, it’s still far behind Facebook but ahead of Twitter, which can count on its 243 million monthly active users to keep its flock chattering.

Social media thrives on global and national events. On Twitter last year there were 5.7 million mentions related to Wimbledon globally and 44% of the site’s UK users said Twitter helps them feel closer to Wimbledon, when they can’t attend in person.

When it comes to age groups, the biggest group online is made up of the 18- to 29-year-olds, with 89% usage. Next comes the 30 to 49s with 72% usage, followed by 50- to 60-year-olds with 60%. Silver surfers are also making their presence known – 45% of internet users aged 65+ now use social media.

Meanwhile, in other social news, women are 75% more likely to use Pinterest than men. 50% of Instagrammers also use Twitter and 60% of Facebook and Instagram users sign in every day, making their users the most engaged.