Social Media Driven by Women, Study Shows

A new study released August 26 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that young women are among the top users of social networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace and Linkedin. The study finds that young women are the "power users" of social media sites, with 69 percent of all women using social media sites, compared to 60 percent of men. Moreover, 89 percent of women from age 18-29 use such sites.

These findings serve to further demonstrate the growing use of social networking sites by American adults, according to Kathryn Zickuhr, a Pew research specialist and co-author of the study. "Social networking sites continue to cement their place as a significant part of mainstream online life."

Since 2008, the number of women using social media sites has more than doubled. All findings of the study were gathered through a phone survey of 2,227 adults. The surveys were conducting in English and Spanish and were issued between April 26 and May 22.

Media Resources: Washington Post 8/26/11; CNN 8/26/11

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