Social media networks continue to be huge parts of most peoples' lives — regardless of age.
While many parents use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to monitor what their children are up to, a new study released last week by the Pew Research Center shows parents are actually using social media to get parenting advice.
The study, released July 16, states about 75 percent of parents use Facebook. Meanwhile, 27 percent are using LinkedIn. More than 2,000 parents were surveyed and about four in 10 said they use social media for parental advice or support.
About one in three parents say they have posted a parenting question within the last 30 days.
Here are some other stats from the survey:
- 74 percent of parents who use social media get support from their friends there. Digging into the data, 35 percent of social-media-using parents "strongly agree" that they get support from friends on social media. Fully 45 percent of mothers who use social media "strongly agree" that they get support from friends on social media, compared with just 22 percent of fathers.
- 59 percent of social-media-using parents indicate they have come across useful information specifically about parenting in the last 30 days while looking at other social media content. Mothers are particularly likely to encounter helpful parenting information — 66 percent have done so in the last 30 days, compared with 48 percent of fathers.
- 42 percent of these parents have received social or emotional support from their online networks about a parenting issue in the last 30 days. This includes 50 percent of mothers compared with 28 percent of fathers on social media.
- 25 percent of online parents are Instagram users. Mothers are more likely than fathers to use the platform, 30 percent vs. 19 percent. Younger parents (those under 40 years old) are also more likely to use Instagram than older parents, 33 percent vs. 18 percent.
For more numbers and statistics from the study, go here.