Women & Social Media in 2013

Maybe you’ve heard, but 2013 was a big year for women on social media. Believe it or not, we ladies now outnumber male users on almost every major platform, and we’ve got some data to back it up.

The Pew Research Center recently released the results of a 2013 survey in which 1,445 people across the U.S. were asked about their Internet and social media habits. Among the findings, Pew discovered that about 15% more American women than men use Facebook (76% of female respondents versus 66% of male respondents), and they outnumber men by 6% on Twitter, 33% on Instagram and a whopping 413% on Pinterest.

Which platforms do women use the most? In first place is Facebook (76% of American women 18+ use it), followed by Pinterest (33%), Instagram (20%), LinkedIn (19%) and Twitter (18%). When we raise the age of respondents to 25, the numbers change slightly. According to research by SheKnows and Harris Interactive, nearly 4 out of 5 women ages 25 to 54 use Facebook regularly (79%), followed by Pinterest (30%), Twitter (22%) and Instagram (13%).

It seems that more adults than ever are using social media across the board, as you can see in this handy Pew chart, with Pinterest and Instagram seeing the largest increases.

These gains are mirrored among women, as well. When asked about the frequency of their social media use, women ages 25-54 reported using Instagram, blogging platforms and Pinterest more than they were six months ago.

Are women just more connected than ever? In a poll taken by Real Simple and The Huffington Post, 69% of women said they sleep with their smartphones nearby, 68% eat dinner with them and 76% check them at least once an hour. That’s a lot of time spent just an arm’s reach away from the next tweet, pin or Facebook post.

Looking at these figures, the show-stealer is Pinterest, by far. The Internet referral traffic generated by Pinterest has overtaken Twitter, Reddit and LinkedIn—combined—and is second only to Facebook as far as social networks go. Taking into account that a third of women are on Pinterest, immediately we know that Pinterest is a force to be reckoned with, or at the very least, considered as part of a social media strategy.

The takeaway? If your brand is hoping to reach women over social in the new year, it’s wise to consider all platforms, but Pinterest may soon have the biggest impact on your bottom line.