Social media use is higher among marketeers
The Consumer Connection Survey shows that 94% of Belgian marketeers use social media every week, and 83% use it every day. Marketeers believe that this is the same for the whole Belgian population, and estimate that 95% of their compatriots use social media on a weekly basis. In reality the true figure is 69%, so more than a quarter lower. Over half of Belgians (54%) state that they use social media every day, while almost 1 in 5 (17%) never use it.
69% of the Belgian population uses social media on a weekly basis. 17% never does.
Female, and younger
The survey also shows that women are the most active on social media. Three quarters of women state they are active on a weekly basis, while for men that figure is only 62%. Almost a quarter (23%) of men say that they never use social media, while this is only true for 11% of women.
Belgians' social media use also strongly differs according to age group. Of 18 to 34 year olds, 9 out of 10 are active every week. The level of use reduces with age: 77% in the age group 35-44, 67% of 45-54 year olds, 59% of those aged 55-64, and 48% of people 65 and above.
Facebook: most popular
Of all the social media platforms studied, Facebook is the most used by Belgians: 73% say they sometimes use the platform. Moreover, it is the most used medium among all age groups.
The use of other social media platforms is notably lower: Instagram 35%, Pinterest 27%, LinkedIn 26%, Snapchat 19% and Twitter 18%. Having said that, their use varies a great deal according to age group. No less than 65% of 18 to 24 year olds use Snapchat, and this age group also scores high in the use of Instagram (73%), Pinterest (39%) and Twitter (33%). For 25 to 34 year olds, LinkedIn (49%) does well, as do Instagram (55%) and Pinterest (40%). Approximately 1 in 5 Belgians between 25 and 54 years old have used Twitter.
Almost all of the social media platforms studied are more actively used by women than men: Facebook (79% vs. 67%), Instagram (42% vs. 28%), Pinterest (40% vs. 13%) and Snapchat (23% vs. 15%). For LinkedIn there is however no difference between the sexes, and slightly more men (20%) than women (17%) use Twitter.
A Profacts study among 1.334 Belgians / representative sample
