Humanizing Social Networks: Revealing the People Powering Social Media
Compete: Top 25 Social Networks
Social Networks are among the most powerful examples of socialized media. They create a dynamic ecosystem that incubates and nurtures relationships between people and the content they create and share.
As these communities permeate and reshape our lifestyle and how we communicate with one another, we’re involuntarily forcing advertisers and marketers to rapidly evolve how they vie for our attention.
Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Yelp, and other online communities transformed the regimen and practice of marketing “at” people into an opportunity to engage and interact with us – on our terms. It is the zeitgeist of socialized media and it’s manifesting into an obsession for branding, advertising, “viral,” marketing, and communications experts and professionals worldwide.
But, the people who define each network are reticent to the hollow attempts of faceless friending and in-network marketing. Many businesses are building social channels to broadcast messages in a one to many, top-down practice that not only prevents relationship building, but impedes any hope of cultivating communities and empowering brand ambassadors.
As marketers, it’s your responsibility to peel back the layers of each network to observe and eventually interact with the very people you wish to reach. Each network possesses a vibrant culture and ecosystem that is powered by context and connected by influential social graphs.
While nothing beats anthropological fieldwork and observation, let’s take a look at numbers behind the top social networks to get a better picture of network engagement and user demographics. Remember, it’s how you interpret these numbers combined with an understanding of the real world needs and experiences of the people you’re attempting to engage that determines the success or failure of your social media program. They are not demographics, they are not statistics, they are not avatars, nor are they waiting with baited breath for you to friend or market at them and their network friends. This data represents whole numbers and is not representative of the individuals that are looking for resources and guidance, and in turn, will help you participate as a community member, and not as a traditional marketer.
So, how will you use this information to engage more effectively and genuinely?
Unique visitors provided by compete. All remaining numbers provided by Google Ad Planner.
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 73 M, 250 M
Reach - 31.5%,18.1%
Page views - 22 B, 84 B
Total visits - 1.5 B, 4.5 B
Avg visits per visitor – 21,18
Avg time on site - 1100s, 1200s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 5.1 M, 13 M
Reach- 2.2%, 1.0%
Page views - 410 M, 660 M
Total visits - 52 M, 90 M
Avg visits per visitor -10, 6.9
Avg time on site - 780s, 740s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Flickr
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors -21 M, 81 M
Reach - 9.2%, 5.9%
Page views - 960 M, 2.7 B
Total visits - 80 M, 230 M
Avg visits per visitor - 3.8, 2.80
Avg time on site - 480s, 520s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Digg
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 7.5 M, 21 M
Reach - 3.2%, 1.5%
Page views - 190 M, 310 M
Total visits - 41 M, 68 M
Avg visits per visitor - 5.5, 3.2
Avg time on site - 460s, 430s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Mixx
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 1.2 M, 6.8 M
Reach - 0.5%, 0.5%
Page views - 8.3 M, 26 M
Total visits - 2.7 M, 8.4 M
Avg visits per visitor - 2.2, 1.20
Avg time on site -170s, 180s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
MySpace
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 67 M, 130 M
Reach - 28.9%, 9.4%
Page views - 47 B, 57 B
Total visits - 1.3 B, 1.7 B
Avg visits per visitor -19, 13
Avg time on site - 1500s, 1400s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Ning
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 4.2 M, 13 M
Reach - 1.8%, 1.0%
Page views - 280 M, 600 M
Total visits - 21 M, 47 M
Avg visits per visitor - 4.9, 3.6
Avg time on site - 820s, 840s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors -11 M, 26 M
Reach - 4.8%, 1.9%
Page views - 500 M, 880 M
Total visits - 48 M, 84 M
Avg visits per visitor - 4.4, 3.2
Avg time on site - 560s, 550s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Viddler
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 350 K, 1 M
Reach - 0.2%, 0.1%
Page views - 3.8 M, 7.4 M
Total visits - 960 K, 2 M
Avg visits per visitor - 2.80, 2
Avg time on site - 580s, 520s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Scribd
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 4.3 M, 31 M
Reach -1.8%, 2.3%
Page views- 26 M, 130 M
Total visits - 9.2 M, 41 M
Avg visits per visitor - 2.1,1.3
Avg time on site - 260s, 310s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Upcoming.org (these stats need verification)
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 3.3 K, 7 K
Reach - 0.0%, 0.0%
Page views -11 K, 22 K
Total visits - 5.8 K, 11 K
Avg visits per visitor - 1.8, 1.5
Avg time on site -100s, 120s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Delicious (Factor the switch from del.icio.us to delicious.com)
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 1.4 M, 5.2 M
Reach - 0.6%, 0.4%
Page views - 26 M, 68 M
Total visits - 6.2 M, 16 M
Avg visits per visitor - 4.4, 3.2
Avg time on site - 380s, 410s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Ustream
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 4.8 K, 11 K
Reach - 0.0%, 0.0%
Page views - 23 K, 36 K
Total visits - 16 K, 27 K
Avg visits per visitor - 3.3, 2.40
Avg time on site - 290s, 240s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Qik
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 91 K, 240 K
Reach - 0.0%, 0.0%
Page views - 1.1 M, 2.1 M
Total visits - 230 K, 500 K
Avg visits per visitor - 2.6, 2.1
Avg time on site - 420s, 420s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Friendfeed
30-day traffic, Country, Worldwide
Unique Visitors - 520 K, 2.2 M
Reach - 0.2%, 0.2%
Page views - 11 M, 37 M
Total visits - 2.3 M, 7.6 M
Avg visits per visitor - 4.4, 3.4
Avg time on site - 540s, 560s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Docstoc
Unique Visitors - 690 K, 1.8 M
Reach - 0.3%, 0.1%
Page views - 5.1 M, 10 M
Total visits - 1.3 M, 2.6 M
Avg visits per visitor, 1.9, 1.5
Avg time on site - 290s, 300s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
Yelp
Unique Visitors - 6.7 M, 8.1 M
Reach - 2.9%, 0.6%
Page views - 89 M, 97 M
Total visits - 19 M, 20 M
Avg visits per visitor - 2.80, 2.5
Avg time on site - 360s, 350s
Gender
Age
Household Income
Children in Household
Education
YouTube
Stats are not readily available. Information sourced from Quantcast.
YouTube has in excess of 258 million users, half of which visit at least weekly.
An average of 100 million videos are viewed every day. Comscore estimates the number of uploaded videos at 5 billion. Wikipedia states that 13 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute.
Related Posts on PR 2.0:
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- Social Networks Now More Popular than Email; Facebook Surpasses MySpace
- BackType Connects the Conversation Graph
- Tracking Brands on Twitter to Improve How You Listen and Engage
- Top Trends and Apps: How Do People Use Twitter?
- The Ties that Bind Us - Visualizing Relationships on Twitter and Social Networks
- Make Tweet Love - Top Tips for Building Twitter Relationships
- The Battle for Your Social Status
- Twitter Tools for Communication and Community Professionals
- Is Twitter a Viable Conversation Platform
- Is FriendFeed the Next Conversation Platform
- The State of Social Media
- The Social Revolution is Our Industrial Revolution
- The Social Media Manifesto
- Free ebook: The Essential Guide to Social Media
- Free ebook: Customer Service, The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media
Connect with me on:
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posted by Brian Solis at 11:05 AM
9 Comments:
Great article, Brian!
Thank you Elle!
Great and informative article. Another great social network is http://www.hoponthis.com; they reward members for using the site, but otherwise it is similar to other social networks.
How appropriate that the Digg audience's age chart looks like it is flipping us all off. I get that same feeling every time I visit :D
You're forgetting an important metric. In Nov of 08, the economy FULLY began tanking. Of course these sites have seen a jump... more people at home with nothing better to do.
Fascinating stats, thanks Brian. Amazing that MySpace is the only social network to be taking such a nosedive with unique visitors – even though it's up there in second place. It shows how much it's being left in the past by fresh, versatile networks like Twitter and Ning.
Of course, MySpace is plagued by spam and negative stigma, but surely the boffins at NewsCorp must be able to salvage the brand somehow? For me, its music community is the strongest part of the offering.
Clearly users are getting bored with MySpace, and finding more satisfaction elsewhere.
This information doesn't surprise me. 2 years ago I used Myspace as a way to communicate with friends. I then had a few friends start using FB, so then I switched over. It started as a friend find and communication source with current friends. Over the past 6 months it has grown into an awesome business networking tool. It has taken the place of Myspace and Linkedin.
This article is great! It's so weird to think how much these social networking sites have exploded in the past 5 years and are still constantly changing. Do you think MySpace will continue to decline, fold, or somehow make a comeback?
Great data, but can be enhanced with a few hours of analysis. Will you be giving conclusions in a future post, such as the impact of demographics, economic conditions, company strategy, market trends, technology... other factors?
Seems like Delicious made a step change in traffic -- why?
I want to know what you think.
(BTW, maybe semi-log graphing would make the data more easily comparable?
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