Accredited official statistics

Taking Part 2019/20 - Social Networking

Analysis of the Social Networking questions in the Taking Part Survey

Applies to England

Documents

Social networking

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Details

Data about social networking helps us to increase our understanding of how people benefit from the opportunities the internet can offer, as well as who is missing out. In our increasingly online world, a significant part of the population remains digitally excluded. In the 2017 Digital Strategy, the Government has committed to address this digital divide between those who have been able to embrace the digital world and those who have not.

Headline findings

  • 87% of adults had used social networking websites or applications in the past 12 months, an increase from 84% in 2018/19
  • Increases in use of social networking was seen for age groups over 45 years old
  • There were differences in the likelihood of having used social networking with the demographic categories of age, ethnicity, region, disability, socio-economic background and tenure

Further data

The Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) collect information about internet access in Britain, describing how Internet use has evolved from 2003 to the present day.

Updates to this page

Published 16 September 2020

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