Men Use Social Media More After Becoming Dads [Infographic]

by Bob Hutchins June 22, 2016 Follow @Bobhutchins

June 22, 2016

This spring, we discovered that U.S. moms check Instagram as often as six times per day. But Dad is just as active on social as Mom. In the same study, we found that almost half of dads on Instagram follow businesses. Of those fathers, 69% take action from the content they see.

A new infographic from Social Media Link provides further insights and context surrounding how dads use social. The full infographic has been reposted below. Here a few quick highlights.

How Fathers Use Social Media
91% of fathers use Facebook weekly; 60% use Twitter weekly; 49% use Instagram weekly. When they do use social, they’re frequently posting about their kids. 70% of fathers share about their children at least a couple times a month. In addition to sharing about their kids, social dads also like getting product/service recommendations for their kids (71%).

61% at least somewhat agree that they use social media more now than they did before having children.
45% use social media to friend/follow their children’s social media accounts.

When it comes to the content of Dad’s posts about his kids, there are no big surprises:

91% share photos.
80% share their children’s achievements.
70% share interesting/entertaining things their kids say.

One out of five “social dads” admits to having uploaded a video to YouTube with the intention of it going viral.

Why Do Fathers Share About Their Kids?

91% share to keep family members up-to-date.
73% share to capture and remember important events.
73% share to show how important children are to them.
60% share to entertain friends.

Social Media As a Parenting Resource
Social isn’t just about connecting with friends and family. It’s also a place dads go to learn, whether that’s through a conversation with a brand or polling their network.

61% at least somewhat agree that things they’ve learned and conversations they’ve had on social media have made them better dads.
44% connect with other dads on social media.
40% share parenting advice with other dads.
31% ask other dads parenting questions online.
26% receive support on parenting issues.

Great Products Enjoy a Wide Reach on Social
Good news for brands marketing to parents: social has a lot of influence in the shopping and conversion processes.

44% of dads say they’ve received a product or service recommendation, via social from another dad.
70% receive recommendations for products for the whole family.
71% receive recommendations for products/services for their children.
37% said they have asked for advice/recommendations online from other dads about products and services.