Facebook was the undisputed social media platform of choice for Irish people during lockdown according to new research from B&A.
In its latest Techscape research, which covers adults over the age of 16, 70% of the population turned to Facebook during lockdown. When this was broken down by demographic cohorts, 86% of Millennials claimed to have turned to Facebook, followed by 85% of Generation Z, 72% of Generation X and 59% of so-called Baby Boomers. Meanwhile, just 26% of the Silent Generation claimed to have used it during lockdown.
Another Facebook-owned social media platform – Instagram, came in second place with 44% of those surveyed saying that they used it during lockdown. Not surprisingly, it over indexed when it came to Generation Z (77%) and Millennials (63%). A further 28% said Snapchat was their platform of choice. Again, this over indexed amongst Generation Z (76%) and Millennials (48%).
Meanwhile, the B&A research found that just 21% of the adult population used Twitter during lockdown while TikTok, which has come from virtually nowhere over the last 12 months was used by 16% of the adult population.
According to Luke Reaper, Managing Director of B&A: “We took advantage of face-to-face fieldwork being back in action to conduct this nationwide representative sample of adults aged 16+ to dispel the digital myths being peddled. It is important that our clients understand the digital dynamics of our society, the incidence and indeed profile of usage. Apart from the obvious generational differences, a clear digital divide exists with the middle class and Dubliners significantly more digitally engaged. These findings have implications for how we communicate and engage with customers as brands and organisations, both public and private.”
