How did social media originate? How has it grown into such a dominant force in the business world? And what differentiates the largest social networks, like Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus?
Check out the video below and follow along as Alex walks you through the history of social media, along with some interesting demographic tidbits about each of the major players. While you’re watching, you can read the notes that we’ve laid out to keep track of all the crazy statistics and factoids. Even if you consider yourself familiar with the social media landscape, we’re positive you’ll learn some new things from this breakdown!
- Launched in February of 2004.
- 1.3 billion active users.
- Average user spends 18 to 20 minutes per session.
- 48% of 18-43 year olds check their accounts every morning, and 28% check before they go to bed.
- Facebook has become such a huge success with mobile devices, that it recently reported 73% of its ad revenue coming from smart phones and tablets.
- Compared to other social platforms, Facebook is most useful for B2C (business to consumer) purposes.
- Launched in March of 2006.
- Had reached 236 million users by the beginning of 2015.
- 374,000 tweets are sent every minute.
- 51% of active users follow companies, brands or products.
- 67% of users are more likely to buy from brands they follow
- 85% of users say they feel more connected to a business after following it on Twitter.
- There is a direct correlation between number of tweets and number of followers. In other words: The more you tweet, the greater your reach!
Google Plus
- Launched in June of 2011.
- Has grown to over 500 million users.
- 70% of brands have a presence on Google Plus.
- Sites with the Google +1 button generate more than three times as many visits as those without the button.
- You are required to have a Google Plus account to access some of YouTube’s functionality.
YouTube
- Launched in December of 2005.
- YouTube is the second-largest search engine behind Google.
- Broadcasts one third of multimedia content in the United States.
- Users call out these three factors as most important in a video: Humor, genuineness of emotion, and human experience.
- Launched in May of 2003.
- More than 350 million users, with about one-third base in the United States.
- Market your products by engaging professionals on a dedicated B2B platform.
- Launched in April of 2010, and had a million users within one month.
- Media-based platform with strong engagement scores. Driven by mobile usage.
Want to connect with Top Source Media on your social network of choice? We’ve active on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn and YouTube! You can also check out our social media marketing services to learn how we can help your business grow.
