Humanizing Social Networks: Revealing the People Powering Social Media

March 11, 2009
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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.

Facebook

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

Twitter

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
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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
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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

Deli
cious (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.

ABOUT ME

Brian Solis is globally recognized as one of most prominent thought leaders in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has influenced the effects of emerging media on the convergence of marketing, communications, and publishing. He is principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning New Media agency in Silicon Valley, and has led interactive and social programs for Fortune 500 companies, notable celebrities, and Web 2.0 startups. BrianSolis.com is ranked among the top of world's leading business and marketing online resources.