The #RLTM Scoreboard: Social Networking Stats for the Week
| Facebook: | 955 million active users | via CNET |
| Twitter: | over 500 million users | via Twopcharts |
| Qzone: | 599 million monthly active users | via TechCrunch |
| Sina Weibo: | over 368 million users | via China Daily |
| Renren: | over 170 million users | via iResearch iUser Tracker |
| LinkedIn: | 175 million members | via LinkedIn |
| Google Plus: | 100 million monthly active users | via Google |
| Tumblr: | 75 million blogs | via Tumblr |
| Instagram: | 100 million users | via TechCrunch |
| Tagged: | 20 million unique monthly users | via Tagged |
| Foursquare: | over 20 million users | via Foursquare |
| Pinterest: | over 20 million users | via Forbes |
| Posterous: | 15 million monthly users | via Posterous |
Please email marissa@modernmediapartners.com if you have additional updates, or a social network that you feel should be on the list.
Instagram Tops Twitter In Daily Mobile Users
Smartphone owners in the US visited Instagram (from their smartphones) more frequently and for longer periods of time than they visited Twitter in August 2012, according to new comScore data (as reported by AllThingsD).
Instagram averaged 7.3 million daily active users in August, compared to 6.9 million for Twitter. Instagram users spent 257 minutes (on average) accessing the mobile photo-sharing platform, while Twitter users averaged only 170 minutes viewing the micro-blogging platform.
Out of around 110 million smartphone owners in the US, Twitter had ~29 million unique U.S. smartphone visitors in August, while Instagram had just under 22 million. So, despite Instagram’s lower total number of smartphone users visiting the site, users are returning to Instagram more often – and spending more time on the platform.
One thing to note: comScore’s data only measured activity from users age 18 and older, leaving out a significant number of both Twitter and Instagram users that are younger than 18.
When comparing the two platforms, it makes sense that Instagram users would spend more time on the site. While Twitter’s messages were designed to make it easy for users to scroll quickly through the tweet stream, Instagram’s photos can require “some degree of pause to take in” (AllThingsD).
Within just two years, Instagram has grown to the point where it can successfully rival Twitter in daily mobile users and in mobile engagement. The real question is — how will these numbers play out over the next two years, now that Facebook has taken over the mobile photo-sharing network?
