Anderson Analytics has recently confirmed what many of us already knew about the most popular social networks out there, namely facebook, MySpace, twitter and LinkedIn. For marketers looking for good demographic and psychographic information about buying habits and areas of interest broken down by which social network they use, there is some good stuff here.
110 million Americans, which represents about 60% of the total online population, use social networks. That number might be low as the study only counted people who used a social network in the past month. The average social networker spends a LOT of time on them: 5 days a week, 4 times a day for at least an hour each day. 9% stay logged in all day keeping tabs on what's new.
For brands considering a facebook page or twitter presence, 52% of users had friended or become a fan of a brand, illustrating that people are receptive to this type of engagement. Not surprisingly, 45% say they link only to family and friends, and another 18% saying they will only link to people they had met in person.
A quick breakdown by service:
facebook:
- 77 million users
- 40% married
- 80% white
- Average income $61,000
- Average number of connections: 121
facebook showed a tremendous level of loyalty with 75% of users saying it was their favorite site and another 59% saying that had increased their use of the site in the past 6 months.
twitter:
- Interests skew more towards news, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance and religion.
- More likely to use twitter to promote their blogs or their businesses
- Average income $58,000
- Average number of followers: 28; average number they follow: 32
- 43% said they could live without twitter
MySpace:
- Young, fun, but disappearing. Most said they had used the site much less in the last 6 months.
- 67 million active uses (nothing to sneeze at)
- Most joined for fun and are into humor, comedy and video games
- Not big on exercising but, unexpectedly, they seek out parenting advice more than any other group.
- Average income: $44,000
- More likely to be black or hispanic, and 60% are single
- 23% are students
LinkedIn:
Surprising no one, LinkedIn is all about business. Hey, that's what it's there for, right? It's also the only service that skews more male than female (57%-43%).
- Average income: $89,000
- Interests skew towards news, employment info, sports and politics
- More likely to to be into going to the gym, spas, yoga, golf and tennis
- They are also into gadgets, although not too much gaming. Digital cameras, High-def TVs, DVRs and Blu-ray players. (So THEY'RE the 16 people who have bought a Blu-ray!)
- They unwind by gambling online and, wait for it...., going online for soap opera content. (OK, I have NO idea what the significance of that is.)
The full report is supposed to be out now, so check their site for more details.
