  We use data from the Facebook Advertisement Platform to study patterns of
demographic disparities in usage of Facebook across countries. We address three
main questions: (1) How does Facebook usage differ by age and by gender around
the world? (2) How does the size of friendship networks vary by age and by
gender? (3) What are the demographic characteristics of specific subgroups of
Facebook users? We find that in countries in North America and northern Europe,
patterns of Facebook usage differ little between older people and younger
adults. In Asian countries, which have high levels of gender inequality,
differences in Facebook adoption by gender disappear at older ages, possibly as
a result of selectivity. We also observe that across countries, women tend to
have larger networks of close friends than men, and that female users who are
living away from their hometown are more likely to engage in Facebook use than
their male counterparts, regardless of their region and age group. Our findings
contextualize recent research on gender gaps in online usage, and offer new
insights into some of the nuances of demographic differentials in the adoption
and the use of digital technologies.
