Is the size of the audience any different now than before the impact of new and digital media (or has the pattern of usage changed)?

Audience (before and after the impact of new and digital media)

The audience that used social networking in the past is pretty much the same audience that use it today. It has been popular amongst 18-29 year olds since its beginning. From 2005-2006, the use of social networking sites among young adult internet users aged 19-29 jumped from 9% to 49%. Since then, users aged fewer than 30 have continued to use social networking sites compared to every other adult age group. As of May 2011, over eight in ten internet users’ ages 18-29 use social networking sites (83%) compared with seven in ten 30-34 year olds (70%), half of 50-64 year olds (51%), and a third of those aged 65 and older (33%).

However, Facebook is the only social networking sites with no generational limits. It attacts users of all ages, from Grandparents to teenagers. A recent study by Forrester found that the number of U.S. adults who use social networking sites, 96% of them are on Facebook. Which goes to show that the audience who use social networking sites has changed dramatically over the years. 98% of both the members of the Golden generation (aged 67 and up) and Gen Z’ers (aged 18-22 who use social networking sites are on Facebook. And no age group dipped below the 95% mark. Facebook beats the other social networking sites by a long-shot, too. ‘LinkedIn’ the next most popular site, claims only 28% of the U.S. adult online population. Its membership follows more of a bell curve, with the working-age population more likely to be on the site — not surprisingly, since it’s designed for networking and employment.


However, there are quite a few concerns about social networking sites. Some argue that social networking hinders real life social experiences. Though, statistics show that only 3% of users' Facebook friends have never met in person. While 89% of all Facebook friends have met in person more than once. Thus, you could argue that social networking does not really hinder life experiences.

Twitter
Twitter, the third most used social network, is most popular among younger users, and membership drops off incrementally for older audiences. 38% of Gen Z’ers, the youngest category, use Twitter — while less than half of that uses LinkedIn.


However, Pew found that Twitter usage has doubled for most age groups. Among those 25 to 34, Twitter use grew to 19% in May from 9% last November. Tweeters in the 25-44 age group increased to 14% from 8% over the same period. And looking at a wider age bracket, the number of people 30-49 who joined Twitter jumped to 14% in May from 7% in November.  When Twitter first launched, only teenagers were on it aged 17-19. However, today statistics show that twitter usage grew from 4% in 2010 to 6% in 2011 in the age category of 65 and over. 


Google+
When Google+ was first launched, the age restrictions was 18 and over only. However, this has dropped to the age of 13, as owners have realised that young adults contribute greatly to social networking sites and without them there won't be enough money being produced for their company. That is how audience pattern for Google+ has changed so far. However, with the impact of new and digital media, we are now able to access greater views and values, consisting of a variety of different choices, that allow us to prosper and develop.