The revolution in social media is changing the way ideas are shared, and newcomers to Canada are leading the way. So says The Globe and Mail in “Immigrants are on the Digital Vanguard,” an editorial referencing a new social media study from Delvinia and Environics Analytics.

The online survey of 23,144 people, conducted using Delvinia’s AskingCanadians™ panel, examined Canadians’ use of, and comfort level with, social media. Environics Analytics classified the responses according to the 66 lifestyles types of the PRIZM_C2 segmentation system to create a new database
describing the social media habits of Canadians based on their lifestyle type.

The study found that while the use of social media is growing, only 3.4 per cent of Canadians read Twitter postings and 21 per cent use Facebook. And, the creators of social media content tend to be young, upwardly mobile immigrants living in Canada’s largest and most diverse cities – Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

“Newcomers from China, India and the Philippines have an edge over their Canadian-born counterparts because of their youth, sociability, desire to stay in touch with overseas relatives, and homeland tradition of mobile-phone use,” states The Globe and Mail.

The editorial also noted that “young, hip urbanites and single city renters are most likely to be playing Farmville, tagging photos and updating their dating status on Facebook. But so are wealthy Chinese families, immigrants of all ages, and young, ethnic singles in urban high-rises.”

“In contrast, followers of social media are older suburbanites with established families, who look at sites to keep abreast of marketplace developments, and new trends, much as they might peer in the window of Holt Renfrew. But they are hesitant about joining in the social media conversation.”