Roughly two thirds (67%) of social media users say that staying in touch with current friends and family members is a major reason they use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or LinkedIn; about half say they use these sites to reconnect with old friends.

Those who say that keeping up with family members is a major consideration in their use of social networking sites are a demographically diverse group — there are no dominant trends on this question regarding age, income, education, race/ethnicity, parental status or place of residence. The most statistically significant factor on this question is gender, as female social media users are more likely than male users to cite family connections as a major reason for using these sites (72% vs. 55%).

Compared with older adults, social media users under the age of 50 are especially likely to say that these tools help them keep up with existing friends and reconnect with old ones. Roughly seven in ten users under the age of fifty say that staying in touch with current friends is a major reason they use online social platforms, and just over half say that reconnecting with old friends is equally important. These shares are significantly higher than comparable figures for users ages 50 and older, although a relatively large number of older adults do point to connections with friends as a major reason for their social networking site usage.

Women are slightly more likely than men to say that staying in touch with current friends is a major reason for using online social tools (70% vs. 63%). In addition,parents are more likely than non-parents to say that reconnecting with old friends is a major reason behind their usage (56% vs. 47%). Read More

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Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.