Social Networking Stats: The Skinny on Whisper, Secret & Snapchat, plus #RLTM Scoreboard

The #RLTM Scoreboard: Social Networking Stats for the Week

Facebook: 1.19 billion monthly active users via Facebook
YouTube over 1 billion monthly unique users via YouTube
Twitter: 241 million monthly active users via re/code
Qzone: 599 million monthly active users via TechCrunch
Sina Weibo: over 500 million users via The Next Web
Renren: over 170 million users via iResearch iUser Tracker
VK: over 230 million registered accounts via VK
LinkedIn: 259 million active users via LinkedIn
Google Plus: 343 million monthly active users via GlobalWebIndex
Tumblr: 171 million blogs via Tumblr
Instagram: 150 million users via Instagram
Vine: 40 million registered users via Vine
Tagged: 20 million unique monthly users via Tagged
Foursquare: 40 million users via CNET
Pinterest: 70 million users via The Next Web
Reddit: 112 million monthly unique visitors via Reddit
WhatsApp: 200 million monthly active users via TechCrunch
SnapChat:  ???? via TechCrunch

Please email marissa@modernmedia.co if you have additional updates, or a social network that you feel should be on the list.  

Anonymous & Ephemeral Messaging: The Skinny on Whisper, Secret and Snapchat

Secret.ly allows users to share anonymously
Secret.ly allows users to share anonymously

Got a secret crush this Valentine’s Day?  These days you can divulge on social media without worrying your news will become public knowledge, thanks to a new(ish) crop of social networks.  Whisper, Secret, Snapchat and others offer safety to users, either in the form of anonymity or disappearing messages.  Here’s some basic info and stats (when available) on each:

  • Whisper.sh shows confessions laying over images, and now receives around 3.5 billion page views (viewed messages) per month. Page views rose almost 20% in Whisper’s latest 30-day period vs. the month previous; Whisper estimates that 90% of users are ages 18-24. ( The Wall Street Journal).
  • Secret.ly’s tagline is “Share anonymously with your friends. Speak freely.” Ranked among the top-20 social apps on Apple’s App Store just one week after launch, Secret imports contacts from users’ phones and then anonymously posts messages of friends, and friends of friends.
  • Snapchat debuted back in September 2011, and has been a fairly big deal for the last year or so. Users take photos, send them, and the image ‘disappears’ once viewed. While largely remaining secretive about user numbers, in November we reported that 70% of Snapchat users are women, and users were sending around 400 million snaps per day.

What do you think of these newer social networking apps, where sharing is meant to be more free and spontaneous, and less about cultivating a (lasting) presence or identity on social media? Is it just a trend, or are disappearing messages and anonymous posts here to stay?