![Social media apps Twitter and Facebook [Illustrative] (photo credit: REUTERS)](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/255918 "Social media apps Twitter and Facebook [Illustrative]")
(JTA) — When it comes to social media, Israelis rule the world.
Some 77 percent of adults in Israel use social media, putting the country 1 percentage point ahead of South Korea, according to a Pew Research Center survey released this week. The United States was sixth at 70 percent.
At the same time, Israel ranks second in smartphone ownership, with 88 percent of its adults owning smartphones. South Korea was first with 95 percent of adults owning a smartphone and the U.S. sixth again at 81 percent.
The two categories are related, according to Pew, because social networking sites can be accessed via smartphones, and smartphone owners are more likely to access social networking sites than those who own a basic phone or none at all.
Among Israelis, smartphone ownership is on the rise for the over-50 set: 80 percent as compared to 50 percent in 2015.
Those surveyed in 18 advanced economies were more likely to have mobile phones – smartphones in particular – and use the internet and social media than those in emerging economies, with a median of 76 percent in the former having smartphones compared to 45 percent in the latter.
Conducted last year from May 14 to Aug. 12, the survey had 30,133 respondents in 27 countries.