Seven in ten internet users active on social media

Last year, seven in every ten Dutch internet users aged 12 years and older were active on social media. Facebook and Twitter are very popular social networks. Nearly all young people are regular users of Facebook and Twitter. The proportion of social media users in the Netherlands is among the highest in the European Union.

Nearly all young people active on social media

Approximately 90 percent in the Dutch population aged 12 years and older used the internet in 2012 and 70 percent of them were active on social media. Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social networks where more than half (56 percent) of internet users are active. Chat sites and professional network sites like LinkedIn are used by 35 and 22 percent respectively. 

Virtually all young people in the Netherlands visit social networks and other forms of social media: 93 percent of 12 to 18-year-olds and 98 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds. The use of social media is closely related to age and falls from 87 percent among 25 to 35-year-old internet users to 18 percent among internet users over the age of 75. More than one in three individuals aged 75 and older used the internet in 2012.  

Use of social media by age, 2012

Netherlands in European top three social media users

In 2011 – the most recent year for which European figures are available – an average 40 percent of all EU citizens aged between 16 and 75 years used social media, versus more than 60 percent in the Netherlands. Together with Denmark and Sweden, the Netherlands has a position in the top three of countries with the highest share of social media users. The Dutch share is also significantly higher than in the adjacent countries Belgium and Germany.

Use of social media in various EU countries, 2011

Math Akkermans