New Study Finds Facebook Crushes All Other Social Networks

When one study reports findings that are different than conventional wisdom, Wall Street reads it cautiously.

When numerous, well-respected research houses report findings that change the paradigm, that’s a big deal.

2013 was the year that the paradigm-shift took place in social media data, and a recent report from Pew Research Center illustrates it perfectly.

In its report, “Social Media Update 2013," the company found that 73 percent of online adults now use social media sites and Facebook FB absolutely crushes all other competition.

In fact, it’s not even remotely close.

Seventy-one percent of adults used Facebook in 2013—a year over year increase of four percent. This goes against the growing rumors that Facebook is on the decline.

The next most used platform was LinkedIn where 22 percent of adults reported interacting with it—up two percent year over year. Next was Pinterest at 21 percent, Twitter at 18 percent and Instagram at 17 percent. 84 percent of users 18-29 are on the Facebook verses 31 percent on Twitter.

Related: Report Says Facebook Dead to Teens - Or Does it?

And while Facebook has “matured” as far as the age of its client base, it’s the only social network that is popular among a large cross section of demographic groups. Women are four times more likely to be on Pinterest than men, LinkedIn is popular among college graduates, and Twitter and Instagram have appeal to younger adults, the survey found.

Facebook also has a much higher rate of user engagement.

63 percent of users check their Facebook accounts daily verses only 46 percent of Twitter users. Further, 90 percent of Twitter users report frequenting Facebook while only 22 percent of Facebook users have a Twitter account.

The main takeaway for investors is that Facebook is still the backbone of all social media and it’s continuing to grow. Even at its current size, which should significantly reduce its growth rate, the platform grew at the highest year over year rate of any platform.

But, that doesn’t mean that all other platforms are doomed.

The report found that all platforms showed healthy growth and while Facebook is the standard by which all others are measured, 42 percent of all adults now use more than one platform with even distribution among the other four major players. However, the report also illustrates that none of Facebook’s competitors have taken the clear number two spot—a distinction that would be quite lucrative even in the shadow of Facebook.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Tim Parker had no position in the companies mentioned.