Facebook Will Be Used More Than Twitter During Super Bowl [Survey]

Never mind the big screen on Super Bowl Sunday. What’s going to be on your second screen?

If you’re like most people, it’ll probably be Facebook or Twitter. According to an online survey by Salesforce Marketing Cloud, 66% of respondents said they plan to use Facebook during the game; 56% said they’ll use Twitter. Instagram with 31% and Snapchat with 11% rounded out the social pecking order.

Marketing Cloud’s survey, drawn from more than 400 responses to an online survey in the past week, isn’t scientific, but it is an interesting snapshot of an obviously well connected set of consumers.

The survey also found that 61% of Super Bowl viewers will have smartphone in hand, that 24% will have a tablet and 20% will watch with their laptop. That’s a 105% total, so obviously some will be tuning into third and fourth screens.

The survey also teased out some interesting demographic differences. As you would expect, many younger users have Snapchat plans with 43% of people aged 18-24 saying they will use the messaging app. Along the same lines, 72% of that age group said they will be using a smartphone, while 70% of the 24-34 age group will do the same.

But Twitter and Facebook polled stronger than Snapchat among the 18-24 crowd. Eighty-three percent said they’ll be tweeting and 66% said they’ll be posting to Facebook. Again, obviously some plan to post to multiple networks.

Not surprisingly, Facebook had an advantage among older viewers, with 76% aged 35-44 saying they will use Facebook versus 54% who will use Twitter. Similarly, 71% of the 45-54 demo will use Facebook versus 54% for Twitter.

Facebook was the overwhelming favorite of female viewers, 78% of whom will be using the social network, compared to 45% who will use Twitter. The results were flopped for men, 68% of whom said they will use Twitter and 55% Facebook.

Both Facebook and Twitter are doing their best to be the favored place for people to muse about the commercials, the seven-layer dip and, oh yeah, the Seahawks and the Patriots. Facebook for the first time has created a Super Bowl hub page to pull in game-day conversation from your friends, media covering the game and live public conversation. Twitter, like it does for most major events, is pointing people to a dedicated timeline page, the Super Bowl #SB49 timeline.

About The Author

Martin Beck

Martin Beck is Third Door Media’s Social Media Reporter, covering the latest news for Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. He spent 24 years with the Los Angeles Times, serving as social media and reader engagement editor from 2010-2014. A graduate of UC Irvine and the University of Missouri journalism school, Beck started started his career at the Times as a sportswriter and copy editor.