comScore Media Metrix released an analysis today that will surprise many people. The report revealed that while most people bundle the major social networking sites together, they actually appeal to quite different demographic groups. This is great data from comScore. Many marketing managers have the misconception that all social media sites are the same, and thus all they need is a cookie cutter approach that will work across all the whole social network. This analysis debunks that thinking.
Some of the reports highlights:
Visitors to MySpace.com and Friendster.com generally skew older, with people age 25 and older comprising 68 and 71 percent of their user bases, respectively. Meanwhile, Xanga.com has a younger user profile, with 20 percent of its users in the 12-17 age range, about twice as high as that age segment’s representation within the total Internet audience. Not surprisingly, Facebook.com, which began as a social networking site for college students, also draws a younger audience. More than one-third (34 percent) of visitors to Facebook.com are 18-24 years old, approximately three times the representation of that age segment in the general Internet population.
“While the top social networking sites are typically viewed as directly competing with one another, our analysis demonstrates that each site occupies a slightly different niche,” commented Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. “MySpace.com has the broadest appeal across age ranges, Facebook.com has created a niche among the college crowd, Friendster.com attracts a higher percentage of adults, and Xanga.com is most popular among younger teens. There is a misconception that social networking is the exclusive domain of teenagers, but this analysis confirms that the appeal of social networking sites is far broader.”
Another interesting insight is that as the social networks grow and become more mainstream, the demographics change as their reach extends into a greater part of the population. Thus the percentage of social networking members over 25 will increase as these sites more mainstream.
“As social networking sites have become mainstream, the demographic composition of MySpace.com has changed considerably. Last year half of the site’s visitors were at least 25 years old, while today more than two-thirds of MySpace visitors are age 25 or older,” continued Mr. Flanagan. “It will be interesting to monitor the shifts in Facebook’s demographic composition that will undoubtedly occur as a result of the company’s recent decision to open its doors to users of all ages.”
[...] The social media demographics analysis that comsScore released early this week hopefully will clean up the common misconception that all social media networks are alike. That there is no real difference from one user-generated (UG) site to another and thus marketers can employ a common tactic successfully across the whole network. The demographic data shows not only how each of the major social networks attracts a different demographic group, but that as the social network sites become more mainstream those demographics will skew upwards as a larger percentage of the general population joins in. [...]