Facebook overtaken in content-sharing growth tables

Graeme Parton +

LinkedIn and Pinterest are rapidly catching up with their more famous rivals in the race for content-sharing dominance, according to a new report.

Researchers from content distribution service ShareThis found that the amount of content shared by LinkedIn users in the third quarter of this year grew by around 15 per cent, while Pinterest sharing rose by 19.2 per cent. Facebook, however, saw an increase of just less than 15 per cent.

The report saw ShareThis look at more than 120 social platforms which reach 95 per cent of US internet users across desktop and mobile devices.

Surprisingly, it found that Twitter users were sharing less content, with a notable drop of 7.6 per cent between July and September.

The results of the study certainly highlight the importance for businesses to avoid focusing solely on using Facebook and Twitter. Kurt Abrahamson, CEO of ShareThis, told Forbes that he feels there is space for social channels focussing on niches.

A good example of this would be LinkedIn, which caters specifically for professionals, jobseekers and recruiters. Due to the fact that it has such a strong focus on one particular audience, the content shared on its pages tends to be more relevant and valuable to its users. While other sites may have larger user-bases, the range of topics covered is much wider.

Despite the new figures, Twitter and Facebook still account for 75 per cent of all shared content, with email coming in third. ShareThis did point out, however, that the popularity of email is declining steadily. If growth continues at a similar pace, Pinterest is likely to take third place before long.

While it’d be wrong to ignore the dominance of the two biggest platforms, it pays to have a balanced strategy when it comes to social media marketing. Visual sites like Pinterest and Tumblr, for instance, can be particularly effective when targeting creative types.