Jason Falls
We’re starting to see an interesting by-product of cool social media tools emerge: Research pulled from user data. One such effort, a new study released by SocialTwist, makers of the content share widget Tell-A-Friend, reveals some interesting facts about how people share information online. You can see the report in its entirety on the SocialTwist website.
First, let’s set the expectations appropriately. The data behind the study is collected from anonymized user data for people who click on the Tell-A-Friend widget where it is used on blog posts, newspaper websites and more. That widget represented just below this paragraph, is similar in functionality to ShareThis, AddThis and others. While the design, functionality and placement of the widgets do skew the data in various ways, the widget has served almost two million billion (yeah … with a “b”) impressions to date, so there’s a lot of data there.
The Tell-A-Friend Widget
The parts of the report that caught my eye included the following:
- People still share via email and instant messenger more than via social networks. An astounding 59% of all shares on the widget were done via email, 25% via instant messenger and just 14% were passed along on networks like Facebook and Twitter.
- Twitter, which has recently emerged as the share site du jour for those in the social media world, accounts for only one percent of all shares. Facebook is 11%. Yahoo mail is the highest individual share channel at 26%.
- Yahoo (44%) and MSN (25%) mail are way ahead of Gmail (19%) as the email provider used by Tell-A-Friend users.
- Facebook accounts for 79% of all shares via social networks. MySpace is second at 15%. Twitter is just 5% of all social network shares via the widget.
While I do think there is a separation between what I would call hyper-tech users (those who owe their soul to Google, defer to other bookmarklets and other methods rather than clicking on the share widgets provided) and the average Joe or Jane, the statistics are significant. They show us how wide of a gap there is between those two crowds. When we as Internet marketers are making recommendations and building functionality for the mainstream, we have to remember that WE are not the mainstream.
Another insight I get out of this data is that one-to-one communications – email and instant messenger – are still enormously powerful. Most people either don’t realize they can share with more folks via social networks or are not comfortable doing so. It might just be that sharing the information with one or two people is the methodology of choice for the rest of the world. That can change how we approach social media strategies for some products and services. Design programs and products that inspire more one-to-one pass alongs rather than “LOOK WHAT I FOUND!” messages on social networks.
To gather some comparative data, I asked Tell-A-Friend competitor ShareThis if they minded sharing some cursory data. For the month of October, their users also shared more via email (46.4%). Twitter was higher than Tell-A-Friend’s results, but also surprisingly low (5.82% of all shares). Facebook accounted for 33.32% of all share paths for ShareThis in October, higher than Tell-A-Friend. If you’re wondering about ShareThis’s IM numbers, they don’t offer instant messenger clients as share options, sans AOL Instant Messenger, which is buried on the third tab of their full icon set option.
I spoke with SocialTwist president Vijay Pullur on Friday about his company’s report. He was just as surprised at some of the data as I was, namely the low share number for Google’s channels and Twitter.
“Twitter is so popular and has been growing like crazy,” Pullur said. “But if you look at the data, the usage is extremely low. It has been picking up a little bit lately, but not much.”
Pullur agreed the numbers may indicate that the “normal” social media user may not be as tech savvy as those of us in the social media marketing world think.
“We have a very wide cross-section of users and the data is a general aggregate using a data sample of 10 million messages,” he said. “What appears to me is that the world of Internet users is a lot bigger than the tech savvy world you and I live in.”
Pullur and I both agree these conclusions are anecdotal and assumptions. But they are indications that may very well help us all shape more sound strategies for social media programs and initiatives in the near future.
Please do check out the full report for yourself. Let us know in the comments what insights you were able to glean and what you think of those discussed here. Are the assumptions you made about how people share using social media tools right? Different? Tell us in the comments.
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The facebook sharing is more monolithic, the twitter sharing harder to track because there's fifty ba-zillion ways to do it. However, facebook is still far more popular than twitter in terms of actual numbers of users.
The facebook sharing is more monolithic, the twitter sharing harder to track because there's fifty ba-zillion ways to do it. However, facebook is still far more popular than twitter in terms of actual numbers of users.
All true. I still think the nature of Twitter users and the various
ways you can easily share without depending upon a widget to do it
skews the numbers a great deal. But the numbers are interesting to
see. Thanks for the comment.
All true. I still think the nature of Twitter users and the various
ways you can easily share without depending upon a widget to do it
skews the numbers a great deal. But the numbers are interesting to
see. Thanks for the comment.
Imagine that, a great line from Edward Boches! If they only knew! Hope you are enjoying your new digs.
Imagine that, a great line from Edward Boches! If they only knew! Hope you are enjoying your new digs.
Because TAF is used on an array of sites, we need to take the demo of this sites into consideration. If TAF sites skew over 30, it would make sense that email is the killer app. Forrester did a study that touched on this @ http://tinyurl.com/mncmtb. Millennials tend to share promos and swag offers more than simple “brand messages” and do it on FB and text.
Because TAF is used on an array of sites, we need to take the demo of this sites into consideration. If TAF sites skew over 30, it would make sense that email is the killer app. Forrester did a study that touched on this @ http://tinyurl.com/mncmtb. Millennials tend to share promos and swag offers more than simple “brand messages” and do it on FB and text.
Great points! Perhaps SocialTwist can give us a profile of where the
tool is used. Thanks for the thoughts.
———————
Jason Falls
jason@socialmediaexplorer.com
Twitter: @JasonFalls
C: 502.509.4SME
Great points! Perhaps SocialTwist can give us a profile of where the
tool is used. Thanks for the thoughts.
———————
Jason Falls
jason@socialmediaexplorer.com
Twitter: @JasonFalls
C: 502.509.4SME
Statistics like this can be quite helpful, if marketers are clear on who their consumer is. Is it the hypertech user? The average Jane or Joe? Is there such a thing?
I love the quote from Puller that the world of Internet Users is a lot bigger than that of tech-savvy social media experts. Our agency specializes in marketing to older consumers – Baby Boomers and beyond. So we're always focused on how Liz's 85-year-old grandma and active Boomers Ms. Jane/Mr. Joe (a little respect for age, please) share. It's still primarily email and word of mouth.
We're advising clients to use social media tools to build relationships with seniors, but to go slowly and be choosy.
Statistics like this can be quite helpful, if marketers are clear on who their consumer is. Is it the hypertech user? The average Jane or Joe? Is there such a thing?
I love the quote from Puller that the world of Internet Users is a lot bigger than that of tech-savvy social media experts. Our agency specializes in marketing to older consumers – Baby Boomers and beyond. So we're always focused on how Liz's 85-year-old grandma and active Boomers Ms. Jane/Mr. Joe (a little respect for age, please) share. It's still primarily email and word of mouth.
We're advising clients to use social media tools to build relationships with seniors, but to go slowly and be choosy.
Sound advice for that target Erin. More than anything, studies like
this remind us that we don't know enough about our true targets and
need more. Thanks!
Sound advice for that target Erin. More than anything, studies like
this remind us that we don't know enough about our true targets and
need more. Thanks!
Jason,
I was intrigued at the consumer behavior/activities within our content (used cars) & have been paying attention to who shares, when they share and why they share. They share for so many different reasons (IE: bragging, discovery, knowledge and the ever-important “wife-approval”)
The results you stated were very much inline with my internal research and from outside sources. (email & IM ruled; the other networks followed just as your data shows)
The typical add-this/share-that buttons – even custom buttons seemed to get lost within the page and the content and the typical user would ask “Is there a way to send this to my wife?”
I've been extremely happy with the Meebo sharing toolbar. They did a great job of simplifying the sharing process while making it very pretty on the eyes as well. http://www.AuctionDirectUSA.com
People are moving beyond just sharing a blog post or a video – no reason why the sharing tools can't adapt to the most commonly used channels while also being extremely easy for the average user.
Jason,
I was intrigued at the consumer behavior/activities within our content (used cars) & have been paying attention to who shares, when they share and why they share. They share for so many different reasons (IE: bragging, discovery, knowledge and the ever-important “wife-approval”)
The results you stated were very much inline with my internal research and from outside sources. (email & IM ruled; the other networks followed just as your data shows)
The typical add-this/share-that buttons – even custom buttons seemed to get lost within the page and the content and the typical user would ask “Is there a way to send this to my wife?”
I've been extremely happy with the Meebo sharing toolbar. They did a great job of simplifying the sharing process while making it very pretty on the eyes as well. http://www.AuctionDirectUSA.com
People are moving beyond just sharing a blog post or a video – no reason why the sharing tools can't adapt to the most commonly used channels while also being extremely easy for the average user.
It is always good to be reminded that most of the world does not live on Facebook, Twitter, and blog comments. Reaching outside of the bubble of social media is so important. The growth lines are clear. But if we listen to ourselves and “go where the people are” we will realize, a lot of the people are not where we spend so much of our time.
It is always good to be reminded that most of the world does not live on Facebook, Twitter, and blog comments. Reaching outside of the bubble of social media is so important. The growth lines are clear. But if we listen to ourselves and “go where the people are” we will realize, a lot of the people are not where we spend so much of our time.
Agreed, Jason. Thanks for the comment.
Agreed, Jason. Thanks for the comment.
Interesting stats here about sharing via emails. I guess I am in the majority, but I feel that lately I have been doing a lot more sharing via twitter and facebook, and private messageboards with friends and colleagues. I think that people will begin to share more with twitter, however, the character limitations will definitely confine the amount of sharing that goes on.
Interesting stats here about sharing via emails. I guess I am in the majority, but I feel that lately I have been doing a lot more sharing via twitter and facebook, and private messageboards with friends and colleagues. I think that people will begin to share more with twitter, however, the character limitations will definitely confine the amount of sharing that goes on.
Thanks for the thoughts. Appreciate the comment.
Thanks for the thoughts. Appreciate the comment.
I'd wager the low Twitter numbers are because using “ShareThis” or another service does not allow for you to track clicks. I port all Twitter posts / shares over to HootSuite to get the ow.ly shortener with click stats. In other words, the numbers can't be accurately counted by any method other than a direct-to-user survey. But a nice take on it nonetheless.
Regarding the high %%% of email sharing, that's because the Baby Boomers don't really “get” social media for anything but reconnecting with high school friends. These numbers will undergo a massive shift as the “net generation” starts to take over the business world.
That's my 2 cents worth, anyway.
I'd wager the low Twitter numbers are because using “ShareThis” or another service does not allow for you to track clicks. I port all Twitter posts / shares over to HootSuite to get the ow.ly shortener with click stats. In other words, the numbers can't be accurately counted by any method other than a direct-to-user survey. But a nice take on it nonetheless.
Regarding the high %%% of email sharing, that's because the Baby Boomers don't really “get” social media for anything but reconnecting with high school friends. These numbers will undergo a massive shift as the “net generation” starts to take over the business world.
That's my 2 cents worth, anyway.
These interesting findings make Twitter look so much smaller and less influential than what the media buzz around it has claimed in the last couple of years. I wonder if “ordinary” users will ever see the benefits in using Twitter for social networking. I have a feeling it is destined to be a geek-only tool.
Fair points, Isaac. I think there is some behavioral skewing here,
though. Twitter is a big-time network for sharing (Retweets, etc.) and
that should be reflected here. However, most Twitter users
(anecdotally speaking) are somewhat tech savvy and probably have other
methods of sharing than clicking on a social sharing service button.
I'd say the true answer is probably somewhere in between Twitter being
geek only and the numbers being skewed for some odd reason. Thanks for
the comment.
These interesting findings make Twitter look so much smaller and less influential than what the media buzz around it has claimed in the last couple of years. I wonder if “ordinary” users will ever see the benefits in using Twitter for social networking. I have a feeling it is destined to be a geek-only tool.
Interesting numbers, I am curious though on what kind of informations is shared where. To me this would be true for private sharing, such as funny youtube clips or news related to my hobbies. However when it comes to more professional content I share most on LinkedIn and Twitter, and I find this to be the same by the people I follow on the two networks. Though this is only a insignificant number from the amount in the research it is still interesting to add to the discussion. Where do people share what? Does the content matter to where you share it? Does your backgroup, job or geographical area matter? Sure, I can see the stats being true in general, but I would like to know more about what content is published where.
I certainly agree the stats are skewed a bit from what is probably
common/standard, but keep in mind the data is just from their share
widget. Not only are there other share widgets out there, but many
users may prefer to share without the widget help. Good thoughts.
Thanks for the input.
I think my question would be whether one medium is more viral than the other and whether or not there is a response difference between any of them. What I generally tell people is that one doesn't replace the other, there will always be email for instance, but with each passing year the options to communicate with each other increases. You don't to replace email with Twitter or Facebook, you aim to supplement it with new social media channels.
Fair observation. Thanks for that. I think the viral-ness (to invent a
word) is what the statistics are getting at. Email still seems to be
the anchor point for viral activity. But when you look at the
engagement indicators, perhaps the Facebooks of the world have some
legs to stand on. Of course, nothing goes viral because of the medium,
but because of the content. Thanks for the comment.
From my own experience, I get a lot more hits from twitter than anywhere else.
The problem I have with this study is that it's just through the use of the share button. It takes no account of the folks that are slightly MORE tech savvy and have their preferred twitter client/link burner at the ready when they want to share something.
So you have a very underrepresented sample of the population, only folks who use the button, on sites that have the button.
I wouldn't put too much faith in the conclusions drawn.
When you consider the automation features built into social-minded sites like youtube, reverbnation, delicious, etc it becomes obvious that there isn't much real worth to the report as a commentary on the overall usage of social media.
What it DOES say is that the same lazy folks that send chain emails are still out there, doing it with more bells and whistles, and we cannot forget to reach out to them.
Very interesting that twitter is only 1%. It really says something about how people share.
I think SMS and texting will increase soon. It already has a big share.
Email will never go away – but its percentage will decrease over time.
I have a video sharing site that I started about two years ago. I've tried almost every sharing tool out there and read about a lot of others. Email still seems to work the best for my site ( my users seem to be the over 40 crowd ). I've been doing a lot of research on ways to encourage site visitors to share video's and found the info here very useful. Presently I'm trying to figure out if running a ” watch, share, win ” type referral contest would be useful so if anyone has any insight I would love to hear about it. Hope that's not to much off topic.
Would love to see a copy of that report if it is still available…
Would love to see a copy of that report if it is still available…
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