In these times of coronavirus pandemic, and due to the social distancing measures in force, people are connecting more often with others via social networks. In the European Union (EU) 54% of people aged 16-74 participated in social networks in 2019 in the last 3 months prior to the survey. The EU’s social network participation rate has steadily increased since the beginning of the data collection (36% in 2011).
Social network participation includes activities such as creating a user profile, posting messages or other contributions to social networks.
Among EU Member States, the social network participation rate was highest in Denmark (81%), ahead of Belgium (76%), Cyprus and Sweden (both 72%) and Malta (71%). At the opposite end of the scale, this share was below 50% in two Member States: France and Italy (both 42%).
Among younger people in the EU aged 16 to 24 years, almost 9 in every 10 participated in social networks (86%). This share ranged from 73% in Italy and 74% in France to 98% in Cyprus.
Among older people aged 65 to 74 years, almost one fifth (18%) participated in social networks. This share ranged from 9% in Bulgaria to 51% in Denmark.