#SocialMediaPreferences: How Does the Data Stack Up?
1. What’s trending?
Here are the results of the survey, ranked by popularity across all respondents:
Facebook: 49.3%
None: 26.7%
Instagram: 9.3%
Snapchat: 4.6%
Pinterest: 3.6%
Other: 3.5%
Twitter: 1.9%
Reddit: 1.2%
No matter the constant barrage of controversy that’s been plaguing the site for years now, Facebook still reigned supreme in the final survey. And users didn’t just “like” it—it was the overwhelming favorite. Nearly half of respondents admitted that the online behemoth is their favorite social networking platform.
Interest in Facebook’s photo-sharing property Instagram couldn’t overcome the large share of respondents who either reported an indifference towards social media or chose not to reveal a clear favorite platform. Rounding out the top five, Snapchat and Pinterest managed to nab a few percentage points each.
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Why Snapchat is bad for relationships
2. Linking up.
Ah, matrimony. For those who are hitched, life is like one big “follow for follow.” The mutual engagement is just so beautiful. Talk about Linking In, are we right?
Though married respondents didn’t necessarily provide a wealth of insightful stats, there is one figure that should be noted: they preferred “none” to Snapchat at a 2.5 times higher rate. No more funny face filters or stalking ghosts from your past on the Snap Map? Maybe there’s something about walking down the aisle that changes a person.
3. Stateside and social.
Survey respondents who reported owning a domestic model as the primary vehicle on their insurance policy certainly diverged in terms of online proclivities: the greatest share of American vehicle owners were Facebook aficionados, at 58.1 percent. A mere 40.6 percent of Instagram lovers reported having a U.S.-made ride, meaning their preferences skewed more towards foreign brands.
So, could Facebook fanaticism and support of the American auto industry be more tightly correlated than we’d guess? Facebook lovers owned American vehicles at a 1.2 times higher rate than the average of all remaining respondents. In particular, those who reported preferring Facebook owned a domestic vehicle at a 1.4 times higher rate than those who preferred Instagram.
Gender differences in social media preferences with Facebook and Pinterest
4. #JustGirlyThings.
At the risk of indulging in stereotypes, it can be surmised that guys and gals have different online habits. Did our data claim the same?
Those identifying as male were 1.9 times more likely to prefer any alternative—even no social network at all—to Pinterest. The same goes for Facebook, where males were 1.2 times more likely to prefer any other platform, or none.
Overall, 56.3 percent of those respondents who responded “none” identified as male. By that logic, we found that reported social media usership—or at least proclivities for certain platforms—skews slightly female. Of course, that doesn’t mean that men aren’t catching up. Aren’t we all entitled to a little online indulgence, gender notwithstanding?
5. Where’s your homepage?
Home ownership is a major financial and personal step forward in anyone’s life, so it’s no wonder that it’s commonly associated with #adulting.
As such, users who reported owning a home under their name were more inclined to report no social media preference. They responded “none” at a 1.8 times higher rate than they would prefer Instagram, and at a 2.6 times higher rate for Snapchat. Could it be that these apps, notoriously popular among younger crowds, are destined to be prized only by the mortgage-less?
Renters, leasers, and those without houses beware! General ambivalence towards the social mediasphere might be in your future. Homeowners were, overall, 1.3 times more likely to report no favorite platform.
6. How about those digital natives?
The times, they are-a changin’. At least they are when it comes to being a young person online. Where Facebook was once the mother of the 21st-century social-network explosion among tech-savvy teens and undergrads alike, it’s now looking more like the grandmother.
Respondents who identified as “students” were 2.7 times more likely to prefer Snapchat to Facebook, and 1.9 times more likely to prefer Instagram to Facebook.
Only 9.8 percent of students reported that they had no favorite social media platform (compare that to 26.7 percent for all respondents). Whether or not students of all ages are more comfortable with their online lives than their “real” ones (spare your think pieces, baby boomers!), it can be argued that they at least have particular preferences when it comes to curating their personal content.
7. Bachelor’s in (off-the-grid) paradise.
But what comes after those halcyon school days? Respondents with bachelor’s degrees proved that one’s social media universe in the modern age can really change after the grad caps have flown.
Only 14 percent of respondents with a bachelor’s degree (or more advanced degree) counted Facebook as their platform of choice—a far cry from the 49.3 percent preference among all respondents. As such, these distinguished diploma holders were 1.6 times more likely to prefer anything else (even no network at all) over Facebook.
Similarly, these respondents were 2.9 times more likely to choose no favorite network over Snapchat. Once again, snaps seem to be considered just kid’s stuff.
8. Trucking through the timeline.
The image of a truck driver comes with its own stereotypical associations. But it seems as though truck drivers aren’t posting images of themselves! Among all respondents who own a truck—as opposed to a conventional car—one figure stood out as an almost conscious repudiation of a certain social platform.
Truck owners were 2.8 times more likely to prefer Facebook to Instagram, and 2.9 times more likely to prefer nothing to that same app. Americana-inspired, sepia-filtered posts of you lounging in the back of a pickup be darned.
Of course, the tide could always turn. Who knows? Maybe soon all those influencers will be posting sponsored content in their Chevy Silverados.
