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This year, however, everyone was asked whether they ever use online social media sites like Facebook or Twitter – even if they said they did not own a smartphone or use the internet. Results indicate that there is a small but noteworthy share of people who report using social media but who say they do not use the internet. For example, around one-in-six Kenyans (14%) who report using social media say they do not use the internet. We therefore define “internet users” as anyone who uses social media or owns a smartphone, even if they report not using the internet Even as internet use has grown in emerging economies, social media use is somewhat less widespread: A median of around half (49%) report using social networking sites. This varies widely across the countries surveyed. In Mexico, the Philippines, Brazil and South Africa, half or more report using social media. In contrast, only around a quarter of Indians use social media sites. Notably, the differences in social media use across advanced and emerging economies do not follow the same patterns evident with smartphone ownership. For example, Americans, Canadians and Mexicans all have roughly similar levels of social media use, even though Americans and Canadians report higher smartphone ownership than Mexicans. And about as many Germans (44%) as Nigerians (45%) access social networking sites, despite smartphone ownership among Germans being twice as high as among Nigerians. Some of this disconnect is likely because social networking sites can be accessed via smartphone or from other platforms. But, while people can and do use social media from multiple devices, in every country surveyed, smartphone owners are much more likely to access social networking sites than people who own a basic phone or none at all. . In emerging economies, smartphone adoption has grown more quickly among younger generations As smartphone ownership has increased in both advanced and emerging economies, the growth has often been uneven. Age, gender, education levels and income all contribute to who owns a smartphone – though, often, age is the key factor associated with ownership. In advanced and emerging economies alike, younger people are much more digitally connected than older generations. In every country surveyed, those under 35 are more likely to own smartphones, to use the internet and to use social media than those ages 50 and older. For example, nearly all Japanese under 35 own a smartphone (96%), while fewer than half of those over 50 do (44%), a gap of 52 percentage points. The gap is 53 points in Brazil, where 85% of those ages 18 to 34 own a smartphone compared with just 32% of those 50 and older. Even in countries like Germany and Australia, where smartphone ownership rates far outpace those in Brazil, younger adults are far more likely to own smartphones than older age groups. Younger age groups are also much more likely to use social media sites like Facebook than older ones. In Argentina, nine-in-ten adults under 35 use social media, compared with roughly four-inten of those ages 50 and older (38%). And in every emerging economy surveyed but India, more than half of those ages 18 to 34 use social media, while no more than about a third of those 50 and older do in all emerging economies. In South Africa for example, 70% of 18- to 34-year-olds use social media, compared with just 19% of those 50 and older. But even as these age gaps in smartphone ownership, internet use and social media use persist in most countries, they appear to be closing somewhat in advanced economies. Take smartphone ownership as an example. In advanced economies including the UK, U.S. and France, smartphone ownership has been widespread among the younger age group for some time. But the age gap in smartphone ownership has been closing in recent years as smartphone adoption among the older group has