Facebook, Twitter Waning; Pinterest, Instagram Gaining Ground

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Facebook is now used by almost everyone having an access to the internet. While earlier it was popular mainly among the youth, but now it is popular among users of all ages. The most important question at this point is whether or not Facebook has reached its saturation point or not.

Facebook at top, but Instagram and Pinterest rising

According to a report from Pew Research Center, Facebook and Twitter have reached a plateau in terms of user growth when compared to services like Instagram and Pinterest.

Citing survey results, Pew says Internet services are being used by 85% of adults while smartphones are used by 67% of them – many of whom log into Pinterest and Instagram at increasing rates. In the last three years, the proportion of online adults making use of either of the two platforms has doubled. Pinterest was used by 15% of online adults in 2012, but the number has grown to 31%. Similarly, the usage of Pinterest has also gone up from 13% in 2012 to 28% recently.

Pew, which started tracking social media about three years back, noted a decline in the usage of LinkedIn, but claims the professional networking site is still visited by 22% of respondents on a daily basis. Facebook is still the most popular social media site according to Pew. The platform is used by 72% of online adults and is highly popular among women and adults in the age group of 18 to 29.

Rise of messaging apps

For the first time, Pew asked the participants about the usage of mobile messaging apps. The three most popular messaging apps found were WhatsApp, Kik and iMessage being used by 36% of smartphone owners. Snapchat or Wickr, the ephemeral messaging services, are used by just 17% of the survey participants.

“The results in this report reflect the noteworthy and rapid emergence of different kinds of communications tools serving different social needs,” Pew said.

The popularity of these chat app is greater among the young adults. The reason being that in comparison with Facebook’s News Feed or timeline of Twitter, the private social interaction offered by these is much better. Keeping in touch also becomes easier when using these programs.

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