3 in 10 US Adults Use Mobile, Social Location-based Services

September 6, 2011

Almost three in 10 (28%) US adults use mobile or social location-based services of some kind,according to [pdf] a September 2011 study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. This includes 23% of adults who use phones to get directions or recommendations based on their current location, 4% of adults who use their phones to check in to locations using geosocial services such as Foursquare or Gowalla, and 7% of internet users who set up social media services such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn so that their location is automatically included in their posts on those services.

These percentages are all higher when calculated as the share of cell phone users, smartphone users, internet users, and/or social media users who take part in these activities. In addition, providers of these services are attempting to boost usage rates through value-added services, reports MarketingVox.

6 in 10 Smartphone Owners Use Geolocation

Fully 83% of all American adults ages 18 and older own a cell phone, a number that Pew research indicates has remained relatively steady since mid-2008. Of these cell phone owners, 42% own a smartphone, which translates to 35% of all adults.

Almost six in ten (58%) of these smartphone owners use a geosocial or a location-based information service of some kind. This includes 55% who get location-based directions or recommendations, and 12% who use a geosocial service like Foursquare or Gowalla.

When it comes to other mobile activities, 59% of smartphone owners use their phone to access social networking sites, and 15% use their phone to access Twitter.

Younger, Wealthier, Educated Use Geosocial/Location-based Services

Looking at the demographic profile of smartphone owners who use geosocial and/or location-based services, Pew finds minimal difference by gender. However, 63% of smartphone owners age 18-29 have used at least one of these services (in all cases location-based services are much more popular than geosocial services), 40% more than the 45% of those 50 and older who have done so.

Similarly, 65% of smartphone owners earning $75,000 or more have used at least one of these services, 20% more than the 54% of those 50 and older who have done so, while 68% of smartphone owners who are college grads have used at least one of these services, 54% more than the 44% of those with a high school degree or less.

Interestingly, 59% of both non-Hispanic black and white smartphone users have used at least one of these services, 18% more than the 50% of Hispanic smartphone users who have done so.

Automatic Location-tagging Skews Male, Minority

Automatic location-tagging use by social media users shows much different demographic trends than geosocial/location-based service usage. For example, the percentage of men (19%) using automatic location-tagging is almost twice as high as the percentage of women (10%), while differences by age are minimal.

Thirty-one percent of Hispanic social media users employ automatic location tagging, a 63% higher rate than the 19% of black social media users and about triple the rate of white users (10%). Black social media users still have an automatic location tagging rate about twice that of white users.

By income, households earning $30,000 or less and $50,000-$74,999 are much more likely than those earning $30,000 to $49,999 or $75,000-plus to use automatic location tagging. And social media users with a high school degree or less (23%) are more than twice as likely to perform automatic location-tagging than those with some college (10%) or a college degree (9%).

comScore: 18% of Mobile Subscribers Use Check-in

About 7% of US mobile phone subscribers and 18% of smartphone subscribers used location-based “check-in” services on their phones in March 2011, according to comScore MobiLens data. In total, 16.7 million mobile subscribers, including 12.7 million smartphone subscribers (76% of the total), used location-based check-in.