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Over the past several years, social media has become an essential marketing tool for many ATE projects and centers. Still, it’s not always easy to know how to effectively reach out. The Pew Research Center’s Social Media Update 2014, published early last month, can help. The report tracks how people are using social media, providing valuable insight for all of us in the ATE community who want to reach targeted audiences - whether they are students, industry partners, or other educators. 

Here are the top five tidbits that ATE PIs need to know about how social media is trending, based on the Pew Report:

1. Facebook is still king

Despite some bad press in 2014, Facebook easily maintained its lead as the most popular social media platform in the world. According to the Pew Report, 71 percent of Internet users subscribe to a Facebook account, and more than half of those account holders interact with their pages multiple times daily. Compare these numbers to LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter, who all capture the interest of between 23 percent and 28 percent of Internet users, and there is no doubt that Facebook is still the social media platform of choice for must users – something to consider when posting information about your ATE project or center.

2. More adults are using multiple social media platforms

In past years, teenagers have been the most likely candidates for multi-platform use. They may pin a photo to Pinterest, choose a filter and post the transformed product to Instagram, tweet about it on Twitter, and then update their Facebook pages accordingly. This year, however, adults started catching up. Fully 52 percent of adults now use two or more social media sites. That number is up 10 percentage points from its 2013 measure of 42 percent. ATE projects and centers might consider this as they diversify their own outreach, integrating platforms beyond Facebook.

3. Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram are gaining ground

Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram all significantly increased their shares of the market last year. In fact, with an increase of five percentage points, Twitter was the loser in terms of growth. Instagram, by contrast, raised its stake from 17 percent of Internet users to 26 percent. For ATE projects and centers that are seeking to contact students directly, take note: growth was largest among 18 to 29 year-olds. Fully half of Internet-using adults in that age range now use Instagram - and about half of all Instagram users log onto the site daily.

4. Women use Pinterest at very high rates

For those who are new to Pinterest, the company defines itself as “a visual discovery, collection, sharing, and storage tool.” Users create virtual pin-up boards where they gather images, quotes, websites, and other items together in their own artistic vision. While Pinterest use is increasing across demographics, the Pew Update reports that women are fully three times more likely to create and maintain boards for any number of subjects. With many ATE projects and centers actively recruiting women into STEM and other fields, Pinterest may be one way to effectively reach out.

5. Social media use will likely continue to grow

In 2008, Facebook boasted 150 million users worldwide. By 2012 that number had jumped to one billion. Other sites, like Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, have seen similar explosive growth. Most experts agree that the field will diversify and new products will appear. However, the the general trend will continue. For many ATE projects and centers this is good news – as a widely used and inexpensive outreach strategy, it means we can get our ideas out to more people who need them. 

For those who would like to read a more complete summary of the report, or download it in its entirety, click here.