Difference in Usage Patten of Instagram Among Males and Females - Report Example

Difference in Usage Patten of Instagram among Males and Females Introduction Social networking sites have large numbers of users worldwide. According to research, social networks are the most used site in the world. Users of various social sites vary in ages, gender, races and nationalities. Instagram is among the most used social networking sites. Instagram is currently being used at a high rate as many people exchange photos through the site. Its users are rapidly increasing in large numbers when compared to Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Some studies have revealed that social network users are unequally distributed in different social networking sites. In addition, each social site is composed of different numbers and percentage of users. Users of social networks may be classified by age, gender, race, education and geographical area. However, most researchers classify users inform of gender, age and race. Instagram social site has varying composition of users. Statistical data reveal that Instagram users fall under different categories of age, race and gender. Studies show that the dominate population of Instagram users is aged between 18 years and 29 years. The number of Instagram users decrease with an increase in age. There are very few Instagram users aged 65 years and above. According to gender, majority of Instagram users are female while male users are very few. For instance, female users are found to be 68% of all Instagram users while male users occupy a portion of 32% of the total Instagram subscribers. The difference between male and female Instagram users is huge and alarming. The demographic data on Instagram subscribers provide an opportunity to carry out studies to determine factors that result to the huge gender difference between male subscribers and female subscribers. Therefore, the main purpose of carrying this study is to determine major causes the gender difference in usage of Instagram between male and female subscribers. Research objectives The main objective of the Instagram demographic research is to identify various factors that contribute to the great difference between male subscribers and female subscribers of Instagram. Other objectives of the study include; i) Determining the main reasons for the high Instagram engagement by users. ii) Identifying factors that encourage African-American subscribers to participate more than American subscribers. Research questions 1) Which factors contribute to the wide difference in Instagram user distribution between male and female users? 2) Why do more African-Americans use Instagram that pure Americans? 3) Which factors contribute to the Instagram’s high user engagement? Literature review Online social networks are the most popular platforms used by majority of internet users to interact and connect with each in different ways. Major of internet users utilize different social networks in communication of information, exchange of pictures and information, building relationships, marketing their products and gathering information. Sharing and interacting are the major activities undertaken by social network users. These activities include sharing and posting photos, comments, thoughts, ideas, videos and opinions. In addition, social network users are introducing discussions and information of their personalities and their private lives. Through the user of social networks, the world has been confined into a global village where communication is easier, faster and efficient. Social networks have attracted a large number of the global population due its accessibility through mobile phones, tablets and computers. High percentage of social network users’ access internet using mobile phone. According to Pew Research center (2013) 73 percent of all online adults are currently using different kinds of social networks. In addition, 42 percent of adults accessing internet service use multiple of social networks. The research also revealed that Facebook remains to be the dominant social network across the world with a 71 percent of online adults. This is an increase from 67 percent recorded in 2012. Pinterest follows with 21 percent of adults using online service. Twitter records user percentage of 18 while Instagram records 17 percent of world’s online adult users (Herman). Instagram has been identified to grow at a high rate inform of users and the frequency at which users login to the social network daily. For instance, the recent Instagram statistics for 2014 reveals that fifty-seven percent of all adults using Instagram social networking site access the site daily. In addition, these statistics show that 35 percent of Instagram users access the social site more than one time in a day while 40% of Facebook users access Facebook social site many times in a day. These statistics show that Instagram is the second most visited social site by users after Facebook. About 63 percent of Facebook users login daily hence becoming the most visited social site. The popularity of Instagram rapidly increasing as majority of teenagers in American name it the second-most important networking site, tied with Facebook. AFP news report states that twitter is the most important social networking site among American teens (Herman). Instagram has a high level of user engagement. It has a total of 150 million active users who upload an average of 55 million photos daily into the social site. Instagram statistics also show that about 43 percent of Instagram account post photos and videos more than once every day. This engagement generates about 8500 likes per second resulting to 1.2 billion likes daily. Statistics shows that Instagram engagement is 15 time greater than Facebook engagement. In the classification of Instagram users by age, the percentage of users decreases as the age of users increase. For instance, the highest percentage of Instagram users are between 18 and 29 years in age. This age group records 37 percent of all Instagram users worldwide. The second highest group of Instagram users fall under the 30-49 years gap. The group aged between 30-49 years occupy 18 percent of total Instagram users. Instagram users aged between 50 years and 64 years occupy 6 percent of all users of Instagram. The smallest percentage of users are above 65 years consisting of 2 percent of total Instagram users. As more teenagers join Instagram, the percentage of users between 18 and 29 years is expected to increase eventually. Instagram Statistics for 2014 show that Instagram users spend an average of 257 minutes on the social site each day. This means that users spend an average of four hours in the Instagram social network daily. Instagram users mainly use mobile phone devices to access the social site. According to research, the most used devices are iOS and Android devices. A half of Instagram users use Android devices while the other half uses iOS devices (Herman). Instagram has a great difference in the distribution of its users by gender. Statistics shows that the female gender has a higher percentage of usage compared to the male gender. The current Instagram statistics show that 68 % of the total Instagram users are female while 32 % of users are male. This shows a great difference in distribution of Instagram users. The Instagram statistic data show that the female gender is more attracted to Instagram than the male gender. In comparison with other social networking sites, Instagram records the greatest variation in genders distribution of users. More African- Americans use Instagram social site compared to whites. Data collection Data will be collected mainly from statistical records from social networking site like Instagram. Additional information will be collected from daily post from common posting website that provide reliable, approved and true reports. Direct observation of users’ records in social sites will be important in order to get reliable data about the number and distribution of Instagram users. Semi- structured questions will be used during interview sessions. Interviews will also be used in collecting data from top Instagram management officials such as managing directors and the Instagram support. Use of these methods of collecting data ensures that research findings are unbiased, reliable and reflects true information about demographic distribution of Instagram users. Data analysis The appropriate method analyzing the data collected is using econometrics techniques. Econometric techniques of data analysis ensure that no bias data is used in developing research findings. Secondly, Econometric analysis techniques provide the minimum error in data results due to the incorporation of the least square techniques. Thirdly, econometrics methods of data analysis are appropriate for analyzing data since they show the relationship between different research variables. For example, by using econometrics techniques like the regression model, the research can determine whether there is a relationship between photos posted and the high number of female subscribers. Works Cited Herman, Jenn. Instagram Statistics for 2014. 17 february 2014. journal. 21 april 2014. Read More