Just over half, 56%, of tablet owners use their devices at least weekly for social networking. That is the same as in the summer of 2011 and is on par with playing games but higher than reading books or watching video. On the smartphone, 62% use social networks at least weekly. But most of these, 46% of all owners, use their smartphone for social networking on a daily basis. Only one third of tablet owners access their social networks through their tablets each day.
When it comes to social networking and news, smartphone owners again rely on social networks a bit more for news. Nearly half of smartphone news users, 47%, receive news through email or social networks sometimes or regularly while 35% share news this way at least sometimes. On the tablet, somewhat fewer get news this way, 39%, while a similar percentage shares news through social networking, 32%.
For both kinds of mobile news users, though, the conventional computer remains the preferred place for sharing and receiving news through social networks. Roughly half of those who get news on more than one digital device, 48%, prefer the laptop most for sharing and receiving news via social networks. Just under a quarter named tablets or smartphones (24% and 13% respectively).
