The Average Facebook User: Stats Show How We Use The Site (INFOGRAPHIC)

What's an average day like on Facebook?

Using data from a 2011 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project , Jess3, a creative agency, has created a new infographic that paints a portrait of who's using Facebook and how.

The colorful visualization highlights the commenting, photo-uploading, "liking," and messaging that goes on on Facebook and presents some interesting stats about U.S. users on the social network.

For example: the average age of a Facebook user rose from 33 in 2008 to 38 in 2010; users have 229 friends each, on average; and the average user has never met 7 percent of his or her friends, according to Pew.

Facebook's own statistics tell a slightly different story, which may be because they examine the entire population of users, rather than being limited to American adult internet users, who made up Pew's survey pool. According to the social networking site, the average user now has 130 friends, up from 100 in 2008.

You can find more terrific stats about Facebook, and other social networks, from Pew's report here. Here's one noteworthy number: social media users are "disproportionately female," notes Pew, with women making up 56 percent of social networking sites, 52 percent of email users, and 55 percent of instant message users.

Check out the chart from Jess3 below (Click for a larger version):

Comments

[hursh 4 ever]

07:12 PM on 12/05/2011

Facebooks the new email, but more intrusive.

[janet lati]

08:50 PM on 11/28/2011

hoW c@N I f0ND MY sOUL aGAINSt??

[Richard Doleman]

03:43 AM on 11/23/2011

this should be good information for SEOs to use in the future when social media are finally accepted as a drive towards popularity by google....

[Latzy von Biron]

10:32 PM on 11/20/2011

Phenomena such as lies deception or secrecy will soon entirely disappear because all things shall be revealed as the Good Book says ;p
Imagine the good it will do to the burdened conscience. So, begin to practice to be ready.
First exercise - tell Facebook all your secrets, thoughts, dreams, feelings, and free your conscience.
You will have a peaceful sleep like a newborn and feel reborn to a new sensation of freedom.

[ogaraj]

10:10 PM on 11/20/2011

On articles like this, I am always amused when people rant on an anonymous social network (this HuffPo forum) about other social networks where the people mostly know one another personally.

I truly enjoy the social network trolls that don't realiaze they are using a social network to insult social networks.

[OH canada]

06:08 PM on 11/20/2011

what happened to call people for a get together, for dinner, a night out at a lounge and so forth? who needs to go looking for old acquaintances and adding them watching their every move.

[Xzavier2008]

06:50 PM on 11/20/2011

100% agree F&F

[ogaraj]

09:42 PM on 11/20/2011

social network (noun): a network of friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts

Facebook, Twitter, email, etc are social networking tools used to connect to people, no different than a phone or pen and paper. Social networks provide even easier ways to "call people for a get together, for dinner, a night out at a lounge and so forth..."

The group of people you are willing to call on the phone are a social network. The group of people you are willing to engage with for a particular activity are a social network.

Not engaging in modern computerized social networking is analogous to not having a cell phone or email address. They are simply modern ways to communicate.

[mrsjones01]

09:34 AM on 11/21/2011

I do not see anything "social" about social networks. For most (it seems to me) they are a narcissistic outlet or nosy spy tool. Just like posting comments here. Yes, I recognize my hypocrisy.
The word social is derived from society and has much more to do with gathering and organization based on commonality. If most people went through there 4 million "friends" they would have something in common with about 6 of them. I mean really in common... not oh, we both have children/a job/we eat/both agree the sky is blue. The ability to tap out a few words via a keyboard is not social interaction, which is key to behavior, which are key to the development of soft skills, which are key to social development.

[Skyhawk]

01:51 PM on 11/20/2011

Sorry still not interested in SpyBook.

[ogaraj]

09:58 PM on 11/20/2011

Paranoid much..? All digital communications are recorded. The concept of delete in the modern age is obsolete. Get over it.

Now go enjoy your SpyEmail account or your SpySmartphone.

[Skyhawk]

11:27 PM on 11/20/2011

Don't have a smartphone.

[Nikuman]

09:58 AM on 11/20/2011

The facebook users look like phallic objects.

[cerebrogasm]

02:23 AM on 11/20/2011

I recognize FB can be used in a positive way - connecting with old friends - watching them aging and having kids. But there's a dark side to the greatest data mining tool ever invented: profiling and invasion of privacy. You do realize, of course, that The Patriot Act gives complete access to your FB pages, no matter what your security settings? You do realize that there are very sophisticated psychometric scientists that can confidently predict what you will buy, what type of work you do or will do, and "friends" you don't really know well that could be into some really dark things? Law enforcement now uses FB - and so does the NSA - and it's not to sell you sneakers. Errors in data mining could send you into a dark world - associating you with the wrong people. Posting photos of yourself stoned out of your mind or doing something else stupid will follow you through almost every job interview you'll have in the future - there's a lot more - and since FB now contributes to the Republican Party - the "benign" photo sharing tool is beginning to look a lot more sinister. It's astounding how people trust technology and give up their personal privacy so easily.

[ogaraj]

09:48 PM on 11/20/2011

I find paranoia astounding.

[cerebrogasm]

10:14 PM on 11/20/2011

I find naivete dangerous.

[agness nutter]

12:55 AM on 11/20/2011

I love facebook. My kids post now and then - not very often as they are both very busy - but when they do, they often post a pic or two of their activities that they might not trouble to forward to me, otherwise. A couple of their friends are my fb "friends" and I love keeping up with their lives a little. One of them is joining us for xmas - I read online that she was at loose ends for the holiday. My parents divorced when I was very young and there was a bitter division in the families. Over the past couple of years I'm met some of my cousins online. It's been great. Of course there's lots of nonsense - I just ignore it and delight in the good bits. It's like everything else - you have to be the one in control and decide how to make it work for you.

[cmayer6]

10:34 AM on 11/29/2011

Good answer! I expect that many of us enjoy Facebook for just these reasons. A little more keeping in touch with people we would not hear from or about otherwise. It's not taking the place of face-to-face, it is in addition to it!

[moemoe24]

11:46 PM on 11/19/2011

It's amazing to me that people really think that everyone cares what they are doing every minute of the day. Equally amazing is that people put their lives out there for everyone to see. It's all a bunch of self promoting bullcrap. Pics of their kids, these little saying like, "hang in there, God won't put anything on you that you can't handle". Or how about this one, "praying for you girlfriend"?

Facebook is pure comedy. I get my wife to read the comments from time to time for a good laugh.

[huffingtor]

01:01 AM on 11/20/2011

If you're that cynical then why own an account?

[Virginia Shifflet]

01:08 AM on 11/20/2011

We used to walk around carrying fat wallets stuffed with faded pictures, pulling them out at every opportunity to show off . Now we can upload and share pictures and videos with all our friends at once. Everyone on MY friends list is actually my friend. We used to hear about our friends' troubles maybe every few days, a week, months..sometimes never. Now we can be updated about what's going on in their lives instantly and can give help, advice, humor or sympathy as fast as our friends can type it.

Progress is good sometimes. I am so grateful today for plastic pop bottles! That would have been so convenient to have when I was growing up! Cell phones! Those are lifesavers! I remember carrying, at all times, a dime (yes it was only a dime!) to make an emergncy phone call home if I had to. Now everyone carries their SOS, that's a very good thing! So what if we go to Facebook to brag, complain, share our mundane lunch menu with everyone? Don't like the thought? By all means, don't make a Facebook account. Want to laugh, cry, plan with a whole group of people at once? Join un on Facebook and have a blast!

[UNFGuy100]

10:04 PM on 11/19/2011

Do people ever wonder what will happen to their lives being so public when they go for jobs later in life? Imagine if obama had pics of himself at age 13 doing hood rat stuff on FB. No matter how private you make your profile, people will find stuff you post. Kids live for the "now" no consequences. Good luck haveing a professional career with you drunk at 13 with blunts on fb. Those pics exist forever now. Mwhha
BTW, i got rid of my facebook, and I had one when it was college only! should of stayed that way.

[Valerie Travisano]

08:35 PM on 11/19/2011

Apparently the average social networker can't count correctly either, being that the last section of the photo adds up too 101%....

[TaeTae Hunt]

09:32 PM on 11/19/2011

thanks for that i though it was just me

[JennyA]

09:47 PM on 11/19/2011

LOL.....!

[Halescha]

05:56 PM on 11/19/2011

The world is insane.

[MissMapleLeaf]

08:09 PM on 11/19/2011

by what definition?

[teltech543]

05:15 PM on 11/19/2011

These aren't "social" websites. They are anti-social. Everyone wants to stare at a little TV instead of being with their "loved ones". Maybe they do it so that Thanksgiving and Christmas means more since you haven't seen one another in person for so long?

[cre8iveman]

06:30 PM on 11/19/2011

Actually, Facebook allows users to renew past contacts, and therefore reestablish friendships with old comrades.

[mozartmaid2]

06:49 PM on 11/19/2011

They can be anti-social -- but they can also be helpful to reconnect with old friends, or to keep in touch with people when you live far away, like I do.