Tumblr and Instagram have the youngest audiences

The chart below uses data from our new GWI Social report to explore the age profile of networkers on three global platforms (you can download a free summary of the report here).

Of the 8 largest networks outside of China, it’s Tumblr and Instagram which can claim the youngest audiences – 38% and 37% of their respective users fall within the 16-24 demographic. Overall, in fact, more than 70% of their audiences are under the age of 35.

In contrast, Facebook has the oldest audience of any of the 8 major networks, with nearly a quarter of users over the age of 45. Even LinkedIn has a younger overall profile.

In part, Facebook’s older user base is a natural consequence of it being the most popular network globally – and the one that older users are therefore most likely to have joined too. Clearly, the audience on a platform like Tumblr might be much younger, but it’s much smaller too. Facebook can also point to the young user base of Instagram, which it owns. Even so, these trends are an obvious reflection of Facebook’s ageing user base; original adopters – now within the 25-34 age bracket – are still active on the site, but today’s youngest generation are not quite as enthusiastic as their predecessors.

To download the full version of the new GWI Social Q3 report, please visit our Insight Store.