---
title: "Social networking site users younger than overall internet population"
description: "The proportion of age groups in the SNS population compared to its representation in the overall internet population for 2005 and 2009."
date: "2009-10-08"
authors:
  - name: "No Author"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2009/10/08/social-networking-site-users-younger-than-overall-internet-population/"
categories:
  - "Age & Generations"
  - "Social Media"
---

# Social networking site users younger than overall internet population

![](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/media/Infographics/Report-Infographics/2009/Age-of-SNS-users-vs-internet-users-Apr-09-web.jpg)

- 79% of American adults used the internet in 2009, up from 67% in Feb. 2005
- 46% of online American adults 18 and older use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, up from 8% in February 2005.
- 65% of teens 12-17 use online social networks as of Feb 2008, up from 58% in 2007 and 55% in 2006.
- As of August 2009, Facebook was the most popular online social network for American adults 18 and older.

Of adult SNS users:

- 73% have a Facebook account
- 48% have a MySpace profile
- 14% have an account on LinkedIn
- 1% each on Yahoo, YouTube, Tagged, Flickr and Classmates.com
- 10-12% are on “other” sites like Bebo, Last.FM, Digg, Blackplanet, Orkut, Hi5 and Match.com

Read more in Amanda Lenhart's presentation, "[The Democratization of Online Social Networks: A look at the change in demographics of social network users over time](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2009/10/08/the-democratization-of-online-social-networks/)."