Social networking services are regularly used by half of adults, especially baby boomers, according to a new study.
The survey, conducted by the Pew Center, found that half of all adults use social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.
According to the researchers, this is the highest rate of social networking in the entire six years that Pew Center has spent studying social media use.
The high rate was largely due to an increase in social networking among baby boomers. 32 percent of people ages 50-64 log into social networking sites on most days, a 12 percent increase from one year ago. Social networking sites used by those under age 30 remained stable, with around 60 percent saying they regularly used the sites.
The Hill quotes Mary Madden, one of the report’s authors, as saying, “The graying of social networking sites continues, but the oldest users are still far less likely to be making regular use of these tools. While seniors are testing the waters, many Baby Boomers are beginning to make a trip to the social media pool part of their daily routine.”
Pew has been conducting the survey since 2005, a year when only 5 percent of adults were using social networking sites.
