A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Sociodemographic Factors on Social Media Adoption

Abstract

Focusing on the effects of sociodemographic factors on the social media divide, one of the second-level divides, this meta-analysis finds that individuals who were female, younger, well-educated, well-paid, and urban residents were more likely to use social media. However, race as well as marital status and employment status did not play a role in predicting the adoption of social media platforms. Through moderator analysis, we find that the effect of age was robust without respect to study-level characteristics and that studies conducted in collectivistic countries and random samples demonstrate greater effects for education level.