Home » Social Media » 17 Canadian Social Media Usage Statistics and Trends

17 Canadian Social Media Usage Statistics and Trends

Canadian Social Media Usage

Study Results On How Canadians Are Using Social Media

A recent poll was conducted to determine how Canadians use social media. They wanted to know which social media sites were used the most, who they were connecting with, how and where they update information, and if Canadians are following brands.

Facebook is No. 1

It should come as no surprise that Facebook is the preferred social media site with 73% of Canadians connecting through Facebook. The survey also looked at what Facebook users’ life was like before and after Facebook. A majority of 84% said they had about the same number of close friends as they did before they were on Facebook. It was evenly split, 8%, of having fewer close friends after Facebook compared to less close friends after Facebook.

Other Popular Social Media Networks

Other social media sites were also popular, with YouTube (35%), LinkedIn 20%), Twitter (20%), and Google+ (19%) being the top four after Facebook. To lesser degrees, Canadians use other social media sites such as Pinterest (5.3%), Flickr (5.3%), Tumblr (3.3%), Instagram (3%), Myspace (2.4%), and Foursquare (1.7%).

How Canadians Use Social Media

As to how Canadians are using social media sites, 61% said they stay connected with family and friends, 55% say they stay up to date on news and general items of interest, and 39% stay connected with professional contacts.

The study also found that Canadians use several different platforms to share information about one a month. Forty-four percent post status updates by telling their own story on one platform or another every month. Thirty-eight percent post photos to a social media site in a typical month and 14% share their GPS location on a social media platform in a typical month.

Canadians also use social media to follow brands as well as staying connected to family, friends and professional contacts. Sixty-four percent of social media users stay up-to-date with a brand on social media. Forty-five percent have “unliked” or stopped following a brand’s social media site. Fifty-one percent trust a brand’s website over the brand’s social media website. A majority (2/3) of brand followers follow five or more brands. Rather than looking for a deal or a contest, one third of the brand followers just want to dialogue with the brand and a fourth of brand followers were open to receiving marketing messages through social media channels.

Despite the wide range of social media platforms and the fact that Canadians are staying connected with family, friends and professional contacts, and are following brands though one or more of those platforms, 44% said they were less enthusiastic about using social media than they were twelve months ago. It’s hard to determine why Canadians are less enthusiastic about using social media other than the fact that they may be suffering from social media “overload” and feel overwhelmed.

About The Author
Although millions of people visit Brandon's blog each month, his path to success was not easy. Go here to read his incredible story, "From Disabled and $500k in Debt to a Pro Blogger with 5 Million Monthly Visitors." If you want to send Brandon a quick message, then visit his contact page here.