One of the most authoritative sources of Internet usage research — Pew Research Center — released its Social Media Update 2014 report today.  Based on surveys among more than 2,000 American adults in September 2014, here are the highlights from that report:

For the first time, more than half of Internet users over the age of 65 now use Facebook.  This translates to 31% of the senior population in the U.S.

For the first time, a majority of Internet users — 52% — use two or more social media platforms.  This is up from 42% in 2013, a significant increase.

For the first time, more than half of Internet users aged 18-29 (53%) use Instragram, and half of them use it every day.

71% of all Internet users are on Facebook (58% of entire U.S. adult population) –  70% of those visit it every day and 46% visit it more than once a day.

Facebook remains the most popular social media site by far, and has significant overlap with other platforms, with a significant number of Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest users also reporting Facebook use.

Here is a breakdown of social media usage among all U.S. adults:

In addition, almost 40% of Facebook users say they are connected to people they have never met and 58% are connected to people they know through work.  This means that a significant number of Facebook users are connecting with others well beyond a personal circle of family and friends.

According to the report, Facebook has morphed into the social media hub for a majority of us.  While its growth has slowed in terms of new members, engagement on Facebook has increased, going from 63% of users who visited the site every day in 2013 to 70% in 2014.

Deeper engagement on social media platforms is good news for attorneys who have made social media marketing a keystone of their legal marketing efforts.  The key is to post quality content of interest to your target market consistently, regularly review which posts create the most engagement, and replicate your efforts to reap the maximum benefit.