If you have thought that social network sites are for kids and teens, then you should take a look at the latest study released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

 

According to their report more and more adults are embracing the social networking. Indeed teens are still more prevalent on MySpace or Facebook, but the report found out that of the roughly three-quarters of U.S. adults who go online, 35 percent use social networking sites.

 

The figure is quite amazing especially since four years ago only 8 percent of adult users were interested to socialize in the virtual space.Still, younger online adults are much more likely than their older counterparts to use social networks, with 75% of adults 18-24 using these networks, compared to just 7% of adults 65 and older. At its core, use of online social networks is still a phenomenon of the young.

 

But the study contains other interesting findings. For example, social network users are equally likely to be men and women, and are also more likely to be young: 75% of online adults between ages 18 and 24 have a social network profile, as do 57% of wired adults between 25 and 34.

Profile ownership drops to 30% among 35-44 year olds, 19% among 45-54 year olds, 10% among 55 to 64 year olds and 7% of online adults 65 and older.

 

Similarly, social network users are also more likely to be students - 68% of full time students and 71% of part-time students have a social network profile, while just 28% of adults who are not students use social networks. Whites are less likely than African-Americans or Hispanics to have a profile on an online social network. Nearly one third 31% of online white adults have a social networking profile, compared with 43% of African-Americans and 48% of Hispanics.

 

Most adults use online social networks primarily to connect with friends. Nearly nine in ten social network users (89%) say they use the networks to stay in touch with friends, and 57% say they use it to make plans with friends. As with teens, the bulk of these friend connections are with people they already know; under half (49%) use the sites to make new friends. Professional uses are less prevalent; less than a third of social network users are using them for professional purposes, regardless of which site they use.

 

The study  is based on the data gathered in a national phone survey fielded from November 19 to December 20, 2008 among 2,253 Americans, including 1,650 internet users.

The main findings on adults’ usage of social network sites come from a survey of 2,251 adults between April 8 to May 11, 2008, among a sample of adults, 18 and older. Some 328 respondents in that survey were social network users and the margin of error in that subsample is plus or minus 6 percentage points.