Welcome to SEO Advantage’s Friday Trivia feature, where we discuss, dissect and comment on the internet and marketing, and how the two intertwine.
PEW Internet has just released their 2012 statistics for social network usage. You should definitely check out the expanded demographics, but first, see if you can guess which networks are used the most among adults. Some of the answers may surprise you.
Question:Can you put these social networks in order based on overall usage?
Instagram
Tumblr
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Answer:
Facebook – Unsurprisingly, Facebook is the biggest social network there is. A whopping 67% of adults surveyed reported using Facebook. That usage is 47% higher than the next network on the list.
Facebook appeals to consumers and businesses of all sizes. There’s not a person or organization in the world that can’t get some sort of benefit from Facebook , and for businesses, the opportunities to build real relationships with consumers are countless.
LinkedIn – At the number two spot – with 20% usage among adults surveyed – we find LinkedIn. This placement might be surprising to some, but when you think about it, business connections often overlap with social and friend connections.
Additionally, LinkedIn is useful for building business and career contacts in just about any industry. It serves as an online resume for job seekers and a way to share knowledge among peers in a given field. While LinkedIn is certainly a niche network, that niche is larger than many realize.
Twitter – The main surprise here is probably that Twitter – with 16% usage among adults – didn’t beat out LinkedIn for the number two spot. There are likely a few reasons for this, but I suspect the growing number of businesspeople who are discovering the benefits of online professional networks plays a part.
Pinterest – That’s right! Pinterest, which has only been around since March of 2010, is a relative newcomer to the social networking scene, yet it is already used by 15% of adults. It may only be a matter of time before Pinterest eclipses Twitter. The lesson here for online marketers? Bite-sized, visual content absolutely must be part of your strategy.
Instagram – Another newcomer, Instagram launched in October of 2010 and made an immediate beeline for social media prevalence. Pew’s reported usage is 13%. What does this tell us?
For one, we are in a mobile age, and Instagram is a mobile platform. Secondly, Instagram is the epitome of visual content sharing, and thirdly . . . people really love sharing photos of their cats, their meals, and themselves in front of mirrors.
Tumblr – Tumblr has been around since April of 2007, and can probably take at least partial credit for the move to more snackable content. Even with that being the case, only 6% of adults surveyed report using Tumblr.
So, how did you do?
Did you guess that LinkedIn was more popular with adults than Twitter? How about Pinterest coming so close to the number three spot? Did you see that one coming? Let us know in the comments!
*Above photo by Ari Helminen (Flickr: Instagram, Tokyo Japan) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons