Social media stats of 2016 that will leave you wondering
Stats are always fun to look at. Okay, well, for some people. It gives you an understanding of what is going on in the field with minimal effort. Besides, there is nothing like starting a new year with some solid numbers. So I've gathered some important, some weird, and some equally both important and weird social media numbers. Here they are:
Overall usage
1. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web.
Now you know.
2. In 2016, there was a 10% growth in the numbers of Internet users and social media users, and 17% growth in the number of active mobile social media users (source).
Despite the increasing talk of the negative aspects of social media and the perception that everyone is already on it anyway, social media usage continues to grow. In Asia-Pacific, even more so. There were 14% more social media users in 2016 than a year before over there. While not as striking, the use of social media by Americans grew 6% - same as the Internet use. Seems that as soon as people get Internet access, the get on social media.
3. Facebook is still by far the most used social media platform. Its closest competitor is WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook (source).
Facebook counts over 1,590 million active users and holds an 18% market share. No other platform is even remotely close to Facebook's popularity. 
Social media & Brands
1. People aged 55-64 are more than twice as likely to engage with branded content than those 28 or younger (source).
As the majority of social media users are young adults, it is counterintuitive to focus your efforts on social media if your audience is 55+. However, according to the stats, this is exactly what you should be doing.
2. 96% of the people that discuss brands online do not follow those brands’ owned profiles (source).
Business owners often feel that if they have a brand profile, their social media strategy is sorted. However, they are missing out on, well, everything. People complain, praise, or ask questions about the brand by simply mentioning it online, giving numerous opportunities for brand promotion and social selling. That's why having a social media monitoring tool such as Awario is so important. 
3. 78 % of people who complain to a brand via Twitter expect a response within an hour (source).
As businesses start adopting social media, users' expectations of customer service go higher and higher. Twitter, being a platform of rapid posting, is probably the most impatient one. Somehow companies are nowhere there compared to their customers when it comes to social media. Many even have brand pages and post regularly. Yet, the absolute majority ignores socializing on Facebook - the main reason for everyone to be on social media!
4. Approximately 81% of American women trust Pinterest as an authoritative source of news and information.
Pinterest is a puzzling platform, heavily underestimated by marketers. It is image-based with not that much news and information (at least compared to Facebook or Twitter) in the first place. However, here you go. Being incredibly popular among women, especially wealthy middle-aged women, it has become a trustworthy platform with a particularly high conversion rate. 
Random stats
1. Pinterest users are more likely to post certain types of content on different days of the week (source).
This is interesting since nothing similar happens on other social media platforms. Yet, here it is: the most popular categories by day are: fitness (Monday), technology (Tuesday), inspirational quotes (Wednesday), fashion (Thursday), humor (Friday), travel (Saturday), and food and craft ideas (Sunday). 
2. There is a 12:1 ratio of single men compared to single women on Reddit. In a 2011 survey, 18% of users responded that they would be “Forever Alone.” We don't know if that's still the case (source).
This is useful stats if you're working in some specific type of business. As in, dating websites, for example.
3. Here's a list of top 10 overused words on LinkedIn for 2016 (source):
- Specialised
- Leadership
- Experienced
- Passionate
- Strategic
- Excellent
- Focused
- Creative
- Enthusiastic
- Successful
Have a look at your LinkedIn profile. Have you used any of these? If so, I'd strongly suggest to rethink :)
That was it! Ready for a social media push in 2017?
