Social Networking Stats: Twitter Is Fastest Growing Social Network Worldwide, #RLTM Scoreboard

The #RLTM Scoreboard:  Social Networking Stats for the Week

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Twitter Is The Fastest Growing Social Network Worldwide

A new report from Global Web Index found a rise in active engagement across social platforms worldwide, with Twitter experiencing the fastest growth.

The top social networks all saw impressive growth between Q2 2012 and Q1 2013:

• Facebook’s total number of active users increased by 35%
• Twitter’s growth was even faster in the same period, at 44%
• Google+ saw active user base growth of 33%

What’s driving this growth?  A combination of mobile and increased numbers of older internet users.  Mobile is playing a huge role, with a 60% increase in the number of people accessing the internet via a mobile phone since Q1 2011.  The report found that iOS and Android users are significantly more likely to use Facebook, Twitter and Google+ compared to the average internet user around the world.

Growth driven by older internet users is less dramatic, but still impressive.  Between Q2 2012 and Q1 2013, Twitter saw a 79% increase in active users among the 55 to 64 year old demographic. The 45 to 54 year old demographic saw the fastest growth on both Facebook and Google+, growing by 46% and 56% respectively.

Ranked by number of users, Facebook remains #1 and Google+ remains #2, with 359 million monthly active users.  YouTube comes in right behind Google+, followed by Twitter and then China’s Sina Weibo.

As the big platforms continue to grow, local social platforms worldwide are seeing decline, with the notable exceptions of China and Russia.

See a preview of the study here: