A new study sheds a light on our social media habits. If there were any lingering doubts that we're living in a Web-dominated world, a recent social media study should quash them. Released by the Pew Research Center, the study, titled Social Media Update 2013, confirms the inescapable interconnectedness of our modern society. Some 73% of adults who are online now use a social networking site of some kind.

The data was published as part of the center's Internet and American Life Project. It confirms that 42% of online adults use multiple social networking sites--so if you find yourself switching from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn, you're not alone. The survey was conducted via telephone interviews, conducted with 1,801 adults age 18 and over last autumn.

Facebook remains the dominant social network: 71% of online adults are now Facebook users, a slight increase from the 67% of online adults who used Facebook as of late 2012. Pinterest showed the biggest one-year increase in user base, with 21% of online adults now on the popular pinboard-style site, a 6% increase over 2012. LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram all showed user increases over 2012, as well.

As our culture becomes increasingly web-savvy, social media users are diversifying across multiple networks. "While Facebook is popular across a diverse mix of demographic groups, other sites have developed their own unique demographic user profiles," write Maeve Duggan and Aaron Smith, the study's authors. "For example, Pinterest holds particular appeal to female users (women are four times as likely as men to be Pinterest users). LinkedIn is especially popular among college graduates and internet users in higher income households. Twitter and Instagram have particular appeal to younger adults, urban dwellers, and non-whites." And despite their recent digital divorce, there is substantial overlap between Twitter and Instagram user bases.

The study also breaks down its results by gender, age and racial demographics (who uses which platforms?) and frequency. Read the full report here: https://pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Social-Media-Update.aspx