Search Results for: demographics

Demo-Graphics: Comic Fandom on Facebook – US Edition

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Demo-Graphics is back! We’re looking at where the “comic fans” stand when it comes to demographic details as of March 1st!

What is Demo-Graphics?

Each month I dive into data from Facebook looking at the various demographics it can tell us about comic fans. This isn’t hard numbers but best used to show trends in the industry and the potential of the market out there. This has shown the shift towards women being a major force in readers and a shift to the younger demographic.

How does it work?

We use key terms, “likes”, that users have indicated and have come up with our own set to measure each month. There’s over 50 terms used (and no I won’t release them). We stick to specific terms for the industry such as “comics” and “graphic novels” and “one-shots” as well as publishers and leave out broad terms like specific characters or stories. Just because someone likes Batman doesn’t mean they like comics.

Other things to know…

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. These are not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

Since the last time this feature was run, Facebook has made adjustments as to what it can report so some data is no longer available and we’ve also added in new data that hasn’t been reported before (but some of it has been tracked over the years).

Facebook Population: Around 60 million in the United States

Last month, we reported around 67 million. Things have dipped over the month with women making up about 31 million and men 29 million.

The Spanish-speaking population last month was 13.58%, that number has remained improved over the month to 14.00%.

NEW: Comics focused on kids has been an explosive area of growth over the years. The data tells us that 21.67% of comics fans are parents, that’s 13 million individuals! The number of parents remained the same but with a smaller population, the percentage increased.

Gender and Age

Women have been a majority for a long time in this reporting. They continue to be exactly that accounting for 51.67% of the comic fans down from last month’s 52.24%. Men accounted for 47.76% last month and now account for 48.33%. Women regularly became the majority of the fandom back in October 2017 when we first saw a 50/50 split in the demographics.

Facebook still is not good about placing gender in a binary, but it’s still a goal to better report beyond just the two regularly listed.

As we can see by the numbers below, women do slip as the majority from around age 22 to 33.

Facebook demographics gender 3.1.21
Facebook demographics gender age 3.1.21

Relationship Status

Things have remained relatively steady over the month but there has been some changes from the previous month.

How has things changed?

  • Those who have marked themselves “single” decreased about 1 million
  • Those that are “engaged” decreased by 100,000
  • Those “in a relationship” decreased 500,000
  • “Married” has decreased by 1 million
  • Other statuses shifted in numbers but their percentages remained mostly unchanged.
Facebook demographics relationship status 3.1.21

Education

Things remained steady with decreases as expected due to the smaller population. Things decreased across the board and none of it stands out.

Comic book demographics education March 1, 2021.

NEW – Political Leaning

Facebook is a data trove of political information. While I regularly tracked the information, I have never reported on the political leanings of the comic fans there. Well, here’s the third such release of the data!

Comic book demographics political leanings March 1, 2021.

But what about the gender of those comic fans?

Comic book demographics political leanings by gender March 1, 2021.

We can see, according to this data that comic fans lean more liberal. There are some interesting differences in that Conservatives are dominated by men while those Liberal and Moderate see women as a majority. Moderates especially see more women than men, even more so than liberals. We’ll see how this shifts over the months and years with the flow of American politics.

That’s it! Or, not… we’ll be back as we see the European statistics!

Demo-Graphics: Comic Fandom on Facebook – US Edition

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We hinted at the return of some long-shelved regular features on the site, and the first back is Demo-Graphics!

What is Demo-Graphics?

Each month I dive into data from Facebook looking at the various demographics it can tell us about comic fans. This isn’t hard numbers but best used to show trends in the industry and the potential of the market out there. This has shown the shift towards women being a major force in readers and a shift to the younger demographic.

How does it work?

We use key terms, “likes”, that users have indicated and have come up with our own set to measure each month. There’s over 50 terms used (and no I won’t release them). We stick to specific terms for the industry such as “comics” and “graphic novels” and “one-shots” as well as publishers and leave out broad terms like specific characters or stories. Just because someone likes Batman doesn’t mean they like comics.

Other things to know…

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. These are not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

Since the last time this feature was run, Facebook has made adjustments as to what it can report so some data is no longer available and we’ve also added in new data that hasn’t been reported before (but some of it has been tracked over the years).

Facebook Population: Around 67 million in the United States

Last month, we reported around 70 million. Things have dipped over the month with women making up about 35 million and men 32 million.

The Spanish-speaking population last month was 13.29%, that number has remained improved over the month to 13.58%.

NEW: Comics focused on kids has been an explosive area of growth over the years. The data tells us that 19.4% of comics fans are parents, that’s 13 million individuals! The amount of parents remained the same but with a smaller population, the percentage increased.

Gender and Age

Women have been a majority for a long time in this reporting. They continue to be exactly that accounting for 52.24% of the comic fans down from last month’s 52.86%. Men at accounted for 47.14% last month and now account for 47.76%. Women regularly became the majority of the fandom back in October 2017 when we first saw a 50/50 split in the demographics.

Facebook still is not good about placing gender in a binary, but it’s still a goal to better report beyond just the two regularly listed.

As we can see by the numbers below, women do slip as the majority from around age 22 to 33.

Comic book demographics gender February 1, 2021.
Comic book demographics gender and age February 1, 2021.

Relationship Status

Things have remained relatively steady over the month but there has been some changes from the previous month.

How has things changed?

  • Those who have marked themselves “single” decreased about 1 million
  • Those “in a relationship” decreased 300,000
  • “Unspecified” has increased 1 million
  • Other statuses shifted in numbers but their percentages remained mostly unchanged.
Comic book demographics relationship status February 1, 2021.

Education

Things remained steady from the previous month except for one “status”. “Some Grad School” over doubled from 160,000 to 330,000 individuals.

Comic book demographics education February 1, 2021.

NEW – Political Leaning

Facebook is a data trove of political information. While I regularly tracked the information, I have never reported on the political leanings of the comic fans there. Well, here’s the second such release of the data!

Compared to last month, “Conservatives” dipped by about 200,000 individuals.

Comic book demographics political leanings February 1, 2021.

But what about the gender of those comic fans?

Comic book demographics political leanings by gender February 1, 2021.

We can see, according to this data that comic fans lean more liberal than the general Facebook population. There are some interesting differences in that Conservatives are dominated by men while those Liberal and Moderate see women as a majority. Moderates especially see more women than men, even more so than liberals. We’ll see how this shifts over the months and years with the flow of American politics.

That’s it! Or, not… we’ll be back tomorrow as we see the European statistics!

Demo-Graphics: Comic Fandom on Facebook – US Edition

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We hinted at the return of some long-shelved regular features on the site, and the first back is Demo-Graphics!

What is Demo-Graphics?

Each month I dive into data from Facebook looking at the various demographics it can tell us about comic fans. This isn’t hard numbers but best used to show trends in the industry and the potential of the market out there. This has shown the shift towards women being a major force in readers and a shift to the younger demographic.

How does it work?

We use key terms, “likes”, that users have indicated and have come up with our own set to measure each month. There’s over 50 terms used (and no I won’t release them). We stick to specific terms for the industry such as “comics” and “graphic novels” and “one-shots” as well as publishers and leave out broad terms like specific characters or stories. Just because someone likes Batman doesn’t mean they like comics.

Other things to know…

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. These are not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

Since the last time this feature was run, Facebook has made adjustments as to what it can report so some data is no longer available and we’ve also added in new data that hasn’t been reported before (but some of it has been tracked over the years).

Facebook Population: Around 70 million in the United States

We last ran this report in October 2018 which saw over 73 million individuals reported. Things have dipped over the years but the amount of individuals is still massive. Men remained steady at 33 million while women dipped to 37 million over that time frame.

The Spanish-speaking population in October 2018 was 13.7%, a little over 2 years later, that number has remained relatively the same at 13.29%.

NEW: Comics focused on kids has been an explosive area of growth over the years. The data tells us that 18.75% of comics fans are parents, that’s 13 million individuals!

Gender and Age

Women have been a majority for a long time in this reporting. They continue to be exactly that accounting for 52.86% of the comic fans compared to men at 47.14%. Women regularly became the majority of the fandom back in October 2017 when we first saw a 50/50 split in the demographics.

Facebook still is not good about placing gender in a binary, but it’s still a goal to better report beyond just the two regularly listed.

As we can see by the numbers below, women do slip as the majority from around age 22 to 33.

Comic book demographics gender January 1, 2021.
Comic book demographics gender and age January 1, 2021.

Relationship Status

The relationship status is one I’ve been intrigued to see how it’s changed over the 2 years since last reported. Would we see a major shift as people age? Would it remain steady? Well, lets find out!

There was a major drop in people reporting their relationship status as it turns out. While the population overall shrunk by about 3 million individuals there were almost 8 million fewer individuals reporting this piece of data.

How has things changed?

  • Those who have marked themselves “single” decreased about 3 million
  • Those “in a relationship” decreased 1.7 million
  • “Married” has remained the same
  • “Unspecified” has decreased 3 million
  • Other statuses shifted in numbers but their percentages remained mostly unchanged.
Comic book demographics relationship status January 1, 2021.

Education

Out of all of the statistics, this is the one I’m trying to figure out. Almost all percentages for education level listings are down. This could be due to it just not being as common a thing or there’s been a shift in the populace. The only percentage to increase are those “in high school”.

Comic book demographics education January 1, 2021.

NEW – Political Leaning

Facebook is a data trove of political information. While I regularly tracked the information, I have never reported on the political leanings of the comic fans there. Well, here’s the first such release of the data!

First up, what does this data look like for Facebook as a whole?

Facebook political leanings 1.1.21

Interestingly, Facebook leans a bit more Conservative with that population making up the largest block of users. Comic fans though are a bit different. Those identified as Liberal make up the majority

Comic book demographics political leanings January 1, 2021.

But what about the gender of those comic fans?

Comic book demographics political leanings by gender January 1, 2021.

We can see, according to this data that comic fans lean more liberal than the general Facebook population. There are some interesting differences in that Conservatives are dominated by men while those Liberal and Moderate see women as a majority. We’ll see how this shifts over the months and years with the flow of American politics.

That’s it! Or, not… we’ll be back tomorrow as we see the European statistics and then Thursday we dive in comparing the two!

4 Color Fantasies Wins the February Story Spotlight. Nominations Start For March!

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We kicked off 2021 with a new initiative to help promote comic shops around the world! Each month we’ll provide free advertising for a comic shop along with worthy non-profits. Yes, free!

February’s winner is 4 Color Fantasies which dominated the voting!

Here’s what was said about the shop in the nomination:

Chris Brady and the team at 4 Color Fantasies have been integral to my comic fandom. Always supportive, accommodating, and kind, the store makes an effort to foster an environment where readers new and old from every demographic, can enjoy comic books. They’re a class act that deserves to be celebrated.

Your favorite shop didn’t win? The nominations are open again for March so get to work!

We’re accepting nominations for shops until the 15th of each month. Then the comic community will vote on who should get the advertising starting on the 16th and going to the end of the month. We’re looking for great shops that help add something positive and special to the comic industry (prefer physical stores).

Demo-Graphics: The State of DC Entertainment

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We’ve kicked off our yearly review of comic fandom demographics! We’ve already posted Facebook‘s general stats, and tomorrow will be Marvel, followed by Indie comics, and the industry as a whole. Up now is DC Entertainment.

This statistic breakdown, we’ve looked at terms like DC Comics and Vertigo Comics, but not specific comic series or characters. It’s a focus on DC Entertainment and its publishing imprints. Think of it as looking at the DC brand.

Facebook DC Comics Fan Population: Over 28,000,000 US

In the year since we’ve run these stats, the population has grown 5 million. In 2017 it stood at 23 million and 2016 it was 11 million individuals. In 2015 it was 12 million and in 2014 it was 7.6 million.

In 2014 Spanish speakers accounted for 14.55%, 2015 it was 14.17%, in 2016 it was 18.18%. 2017 the group shrunk to 12.86% but the population grew 1.6 million to 3.6 million individuals.

Gender and Age

In 2014, men accounted for 68.18% and women were 28.64% of the DC population. In 2015 men accounted for 73.33% and women were 27.50%. In 2016 56.36% of the population was male and 40% female. in 2017 it was women for 47.83% and men 52.17%.

In the year since, women are now 53.57% and men 46.43%, this follows the trend we’ve seen for the last ten months of women being the majority of comic fans

And here’s the stats in a handy pie-chart.

Unlike last year, men are at no point a majority. In facet women are over 60% of the fans under the age of 18. While we might not know why, there’s a chance DC Superhero Girls have helped grow that segment.

Relationship Status

The overall population has increased and so have most of the below. Those that haven’t have seen no change. There are some individual genders that have decreased though. Single men is an example and that decreased 200,000 while the overall population of that demographic grew 400,000.

Education

Much like the above, some increased and some decreased for specific genders.

Ethnicity

Every ethnicity has grown since last year. African American fans increased by 1.2 million. Asian Americans saw an increase of 110,000. Hispanics saw an increase of 1.1 million with each sub-group increasing as well.

Come back tomorrow when we’ll look at stats for Marvel!

Demo-Graphics: Comic Fandom on Facebook – US Edition

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Each month we run demographic data of comic “fans” based on data mined from Facebook.

This data is compiled using key terms, “likes,” users have as part of their profiles. Primarily terms are focused on generic ones such as “comics” or “graphic novels” or publishers. I stay away from specific characters, creators or series because this does not indicate they are a comic book fan. Over 100 terms are used for this report.

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. This is not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

Facebook Population: Over 73,000,000 in the United States

That’s an increase of 7 million from the previous month. Men and women each increased by 3 million individuals while those whose gender is not reported came in at 1 million..

The Spanish-speaking population last month was 12.73%, and this month the population has increased to 13.70%.

Gender and Age

Last month men accounted for 45.45% and women were 54.55%. This month Women account for 53.42% and men account for 45.21%. When looking at the data for ages men account for 46.39% and women are 53.88%. When it comes to relationship status men are 46.23% and women are 54.28%.

It’s been a full year since that women became the majority of fans. Things began to change in October when the universe was split 50/50 and they have continued to change since. These numbers tend to be ahead of noticeable changes in the industry we’ve seen an increase in the overall audience and dip so expect some gains and losses over months.

This month’s distribution of gender by age is similar to the previous months.

Relationship Status

The stats have relatively remained the same from the previous month when it comes to percentages. This is despite the larger overall population.

Education

And much like the relationship status, education remains relatively the same with a few changes here and there but most can be accounted for due to the larger overall population.

Ethnicity

African Americans and Hispanics each gained about one percentage point compared to the previous month. Asian Americans also saw an increased of about a quarter of a percent.

 

 

And that wraps up this month’s data. We’ll be back on the 15th for our first look at the European data of the year!

Demo-Graphics: Comic Fandom on Facebook – European Edition

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Each month I run demographic data of comic “fans” based on data mined from Facebook. Due to popular demand, I have split out and launched a “European edition” that runs on the 15th of every month!

This data is compiled using key terms, “likes,” users have as part of their profiles. Primarily terms are focused on generic ones such as “comics” or “graphic novels” or publishers. I stay away from specific characters, creators or series, because this does not indicate they are a comic book fan. Over 100 terms are used for this report.

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. This is not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are likely underrepresented. Europe also has some other data restrictions that will be discussed below.

After missing a month, we’re back!

Facebook Population: Over 84,000,000 in Europe

That’s an decrease of 1 million compared to the previous report. That’s 17 million more individuals compared to what I reported for the United States in the beginning of the month.

Gender and Age

In the last report, women accounted for 50.59% while men accounted for 48.24%. This month things shifted. Men now account for 47.62% and women 51.19%. The 1 million individuals whose gender is unknown is still present this month..

Similar to the previous month, we see men become the majority at age grouping 22-25 and become the minority at the group 30-33. The graph is similar to the previous month.

Relationship Status

There’s a dip from last month so some of these stats have decreased and some have increased as well. There’s no real pattern but also no major changes from the previous month.

Education

Much like “relationship statue,” education hasn’t shifted all that much either, even with the change in overall population. Some increased, some decreased.

Gender Interest

And here’s where data privacy differs. In some European nations this information can’t be reported which means either removing those countries or just not reporting on this. I chose the latter for now.

And come back next month for a new look at the data on the 1st and 15th of the month!

Demo-Graphics: Comic Fandom on Facebook – US Edition

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Each month I run demographic data of comic “fans” based on data mined from Facebook. We start the new year with new stats and we’ll dive deeper into the year’s trends and the years in general in a follow up post.

This data is compiled using key terms, “likes,” users have as part of their profiles. Primarily terms are focused on generic ones such as “comics” or “graphic novels” or publishers. I stay away from specific characters, creators or series because this does not indicate they are a comic book fan. Over 100 terms are used for this report.

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. This is not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

Facebook Population: Over 67,000,000 in the United States

That’s an increase of 6 million individuals which is on top of the 4 million individuals gained last month.

The Spanish-speaking population last month was 12.62%, and this month the population has decreased to 12.09%.

Gender and Age

Last month men accounted for 45.90% and women were 52.46%. This month saw women saw impressive gains overall in population. Women account for 55.22% and men account for 44.78%. When looking at the data for ages men account for 28.6 million and women are 31.8 million. When it comes to relationship status men are 28.8 million and women are 35.3 million.

This is the fifth month in a row that women are the majority of fans. Things began to change in October when the universe was split 50/50 and they have continued to change since. These numbers tend to be ahead of noticeable changes in the industry so expect both a boost overall and also women leading the charge.

And we can see below, women are the majority other than ages 22-25 which is close to a 50/50 split.

Relationship Status

With a bigger population, every overall segment grew from the previous month. The largest grown was those “Single” and “Unspecified” which each saw 2 million individuals.

Education

And with a larger population we see here increases in these groupings.

Gender Interest

Unfortunately this statistic seems to no longer be available. We’ll see if this is just this month or will be an issue going forward at which point we’ll figure out a new way to pull the data.

Ethnicity

African Americans increased by 2,500,000 since the previous month. African American women increase 2,500,000 while men increased 1,100,000. Asian Americans decreased by 100,000. Hispanics increased across the board with the population increasing 400,000.

 

 

And that wraps up the first Demo-Graphics of the year! We’ll be back with trends over the year (and years) and some new data I’ve been sitting on. Also, we’ll be back on the 15th for our first look at the European data of the year!

Demo-Graphics: Comic Fandom on Facebook – US Edition

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Each month I run demographic data of comic “fans” based on data mined from Facebook. We start the new year with new stats and we’ll dive deeper into the year’s trends and the years in general in a follow up post.

This data is compiled using key terms, “likes,” users have as part of their profiles. Primarily terms are focused on generic ones such as “comics” or “graphic novels” or publishers. I stay away from specific characters, creators or series because this does not indicate they are a comic book fan. Over 100 terms are used for this report.

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. This is not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

Facebook Population: Over 61,000,000 in the United States

That’s an increase of 4 million individuals returning the amount to the same level as two months ago.

The Spanish-speaking population last month was 13.16%, and this month the population has decreased to 12.62%, similar to what it was two months ago.

Gender and Age

Last month men accounted for 45.61% and women were 52.63%. This month saw women dip more than men in the overall population. Women account for 52.46% and men account for 45.90%. When looking at the data for ages men account for 28.6 million and women are 31.8 million. When it comes to relationship status men are 27.6 million and women are 30.8 million.

This is the fourth month in a row that women are the majority of fans. Things began to change in October when the universe was split 50/50.

And we can see below, women are the majority other than ages 22-25 which is close to a 50/50 split.

Relationship Status

The the overall population has grown, not all “relationship status” have. “Single” remains stagnant while everything else saw a boost, though both men and women saw increases. The overall population count remains unchanged.

Education

Almost ever education level increased compared to last month except for those in High School or Some High School. Some High School was down across the board while women dipped that are in High School. Men in High School and overall remained the same as the previous month.

Gender Interest

With an increased population things have gotten interesting with this state. “Men interesting in men,” “women interested in women” increased in population and percent. Men and women interested in “men and women” both increased in overall population though “women interested in men and women” decreased in percent.

Ethnicity

African Americans increased by 900,000 since the previous month. African American women increase 500,000 while men increased 300,000. Asian Americans increased by 200,000. Hispanics increased across the board with the population increasing 500,000.

 

 

And that wraps up the first Demo-Graphics of the year! We’ll be back with trends over the year (and years) and some new data I’ve been sitting on. Also, we’ll be back on the 15th for our first look at the European data of the year!

Demo-Graphics: Comic Fandom on Facebook – US Edition

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Each month I run demographic data of comic “fans” based on data mined from Facebook. We start the new year with new stats and we’ll dive deeper into the year’s trends and the years in general in a follow up post.

This data is compiled using key terms, “likes,” users have as part of their profiles. Primarily terms are focused on generic ones such as “comics” or “graphic novels” or publishers. I stay away from specific characters, creators or series because this does not indicate they are a comic book fan. Over 100 terms are used for this report.

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. This is not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics and are potential purchasers and those with an interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

Facebook Population: Over 57,000,000 in the United States

That’s an decrease of 4 million individuals returning the amount to similar levels as two years ago. We’ll see if the European numbers dip in two weeks time.

The Spanish-speaking population last month was 12.95%, and this month the population has increased to 13.16% due to the smaller total population.

Gender and Age

Last month men accounted for 44.26% and women were 54.10%. This month saw women dip more than men in the overall population. Women account for 52.63% and men account for 45.61%. When looking at the data for ages men account for 26.7 million and women are 29.5 million. When it comes to relationship status men are 25.9 million and women are 28.8 million.

Unlike previous months, men do become a majority at a point.

Relationship Status

With a smaller population, we see a dip in some, but not all, populations. “Single,” “in relationship,” “married,” “unspecified” have all dipped the most. Only “engaged” remained unchanged.

Education

Things have dipped pretty much across the board but we see that especially in the high school range.

Gender Interest

With a smaller population, almost everything has dipped since last month. “Men interesting in women” remains the same. “Men interested in men” remains the same in percent as well as “men interested in men and women.” “Women interested in men and women” increased in percent from 1.19% to 1.22% and “women interested in women” decreased as a percent.

Ethnicity

African Americans saw a dip over the month decreasing by 2.4 million and decreasing to 15.09% of the population from last month’s 18.03%. Most of that loss was seen in African American women who decreased 1.4 million.

Asian Americans saw a small decrease of 100,000 individuals and Hispanics decreased by 300,000.

 

 

And that wraps up the first Demo-Graphics of the year! We’ll be back with trends over the year (and years) and some new data I’ve been sitting on. Also, we’ll be back on the 15th for our first look at the European data of the year!

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