Social media usage may seem universal to some investors, but in fact, only 70 to 75 percent of investors have social media accounts, and usage among those that do varies greatly, according to a Spectrem study.

Three wealth segments were examined in the study - the Mass Affluent (net worth of $100,000 to $1 million not including primary residence), Millionaire (net worth of $1-5 million NIPR) and Ultra High Net Worth (net worth of $5-25 million NIPR).

While 74 percent of Mass Affluent investors have social media accounts, that number drops to 70 percent for Millionaires and 69 percent for Ultra High Net Worth investors. Among investors who use social media, more investors have Facebook accounts than accounts with other social media sites. LinkedIn runs second (although usage of LinkedIn is expected to grow more than usage of Facebook), and YouTube is the third most popular site, according to the study.

The perception of Facebook is that it is an almost exclusively social site with between 98 and 99 percent of respondents saying Facebook is social. Asked a similar question about LinkedIn, 78 percent believe LinkedIn is a professional site. Twitter is seen as a social site by 84 percent of respondents.

Among the Mass Affluent, 61 percent use Facebook, and among that 61 percent, 82 percent say they either share occasionally or are active participants on the site. Sixty-six percent of the Mass Affluent say they visit Facebook once a day or more.

 

LinkedIn usage is at only 31 percent overall for the Mass Affluent, and regular participation on that site is only 55 percent of those with accounts. There are only 13 percent of those with accounts who visit LinkedIn once a day or more often.

 

Twitter is less popular thank Facebook or LinkedIn overall but more popular than LinkedIn among those who have Twitter accounts. Daily usage or greater on Twitter is 47 percent among the Mass Affluent, more than three times as much as LinkedIn among account holders.

Among Millionaires, ownership of Facebook accounts actually dropped from 2012 to 2013 by 1 percent, from 56 to 55 percent overall. Millionaires are also far less active on Facebook than the Mass Affluent, with only 56 percent visiting once a day or greater to 64 percent among the Mass Affluent. Among the Ultra High Net worth respondents, only 50 percent visit at least daily.

 

LinkedIn is perceived differently among the Ultra High Net Worth. Thirty-seven percent of the UHNW see LinkedIn as social, compared to only 22 percent of Mass Affluent.

Usage of LinkedIn among the UHNW varies greatly between age groups, but not in the standard way. Only 23 percent of those 47 years of age and younger use LinkedIn, but 56 percent of those between 48 and 54 use it. Usage drops again to 35 percent for those 65 and older.