The distinction between our physical and virtual lives continues to blur at an amazing pace, as reflected in the social media statistics for 2009. While analyzing statistics, however, it is important to remember that numbers by themselves are meaningless. They become meaningful when these numbers are used to delineate trends. Most statistics show that 2009 is the year for social media. People are using sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Linked In more and more as their first option to connect with the world around them.
According to the social media marketing statistics for 2009 analyzed by Neilsen Online, social networks and blogs beat other online activity, including personal email, to become the 4th most popular online activity. While 67% of the global online population visit member communities, the time spent on social media sites now accounts for almost 10% of all internet time (Nielson Online, March 2009).
Let us look at the social media statistics for 2009 for some of the most popular social networking sites to further understand the emerging trends:
- MySpace continues to be the most popular social media site in the US, capturing 31.95% of all social media visitors. Globally, however, MySpace has fallen behind Facebook as the leading social media site, with Facebook recording 65.7 million unique visitors in 2009, as compared to 54.1 million at MySpace.
- Twitter has seen staggering acceptance from the global Internet population, growing by 76.8% from February to March and a whopping yearly growth rate of 1,382%, from February 2008 to February 2009.
- Facebook grew 314% in Europe in terms of yearly traffic from February 2008 to February 2009.
- According to the February 2009 statistics released by Clean Cut Media, YouTuve us the #1 video site on the web, with 300 million visitors each month.
- According to Compete, Digg saw a 91% increase in traffic, while Stumbleupon and FriendFeed recorded a huge increase of over 180% and 3100%, respectively, as compared to 2008.
- On the other hand, HotorNot.com, Technorati and Bloglines recorded a decline of 67%. 35% and 21%, respectively in unique visitors, as compared to 2008.
Although all these figures appear staggering, no single metric can really give a true picture of what trends one should expect through the rest of the year and into 2010. For a clearer picture, one needs to analyze various aspects, such as the retention rate, time spent on the site, what the users actually do on the site, etc. to get the true picture of the social media marketing statistics.
Tags: social media marketing statistics, social media statistics
Comment By: Mind Blowing Social Media Statistics
August 27th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
[...] users visit member communities and 10% of all time spent on the internet is on social media sites. (That Agency) Around 64% of marketers are using social media for 5 hours or more each week during campaigns, [...]
Comment By: Social Media killed the Radio, or at least my Blog « The Backyard Philanthropist
September 1st, 2009 at 6:29 pm
[...] networks and blogs are the 4th most popular online activities online, including beating personal email. 67% of global users visit member communities and 10% of all time spent on the internet is on [...]
Comment By: Social Media Statistics To Surprise You : Buzz Networker - Social Networking Tips and News for Your Business, Product or Yourself
September 14th, 2009 at 7:02 am
[...] networks and blogs are the 4th most popular online activities online, including beating personal email. 67% of global users visit member communities and 10% of all time spent on the internet is on [...]
Comment By: More social networking statistics « Blue Media Boutique Blog
September 24th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
[...] networks and blogs are the 4th most popular online activities online, including personal email. 67% of global users visit member communities and 10% of all time spent on the internet is on [...]
Comment By: Tough Decision « Part of the Plan – Turning IDEAS into ACTION
November 19th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
[...] Social media. It’s infiltrated the lives of millions. (I can’t pass up the opportunity to spew a few facts that, these days, roll off my tongue like the saliva of Pavlov’s dogs. There are more than 300 [...]
Comment By: Social Media Poll - Statistics | Social Media Vision
November 25th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
[...] networks and blogs are the 4th most popular online activities online, including beating personal email. 67% of global users visit member communities and 10% of all time spent on the internet is on [...]
Comment By: Engagement – The cornerstone for social media marketing success | Position2 Blogs
November 30th, 2009 at 1:29 am
[...] networks and blogs are the 4th most popular online activities online, including beating personal email. 67% of global users visit member communities and 10% of all time spent on the internet is on [...]
Comment By: michelle
January 29th, 2010 at 6:03 am
These sites have taken consumer attention to the next level and provided businesses with an opportunity to improve engagement with audience, by allowing them to create content. Social media has also helped syndication of content beyond traditional means to a wider, global audience.
Social media statistics are definitely important. But you need to interpret them, observe trend movements and evaluate usage from multiple dimensions.
I have elaborated on social media statistics on my blog, Studio1c blog.