Survey: Americans widening their social media use

Facebook is still the most popular social network among Americans, but its growth seems to have slowed. Meanwhile, platforms including Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest are growing at a pretty rapid rate.

That’s according to a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, which found that 71 percent of Internet-using U.S. adults used Facebook in 2014, the same percentage that did so the previous year. Meanwhile, LinkedIn use grew from 22 to 28 percent, Pinterest rose from 21 to 28 percent, Instagram use increased from 17 to 26 percent, and Twitter went up from 18 percent to 23 percent.

In general, people simply seem to be using more social media. Just over half of the adults surveyed in Pew’s research said they use two or more social media platforms. That’s up from 42 percent in 2013.

Pew’s demographic breakdown offers additional insights: Women absolutely dominate Pinterest. More than 50 percent of Internet users with college educations are on LinkedIn. Instagram’s audience is very young, with more than half of Internet users ages 18 to 29 using the site.