Compare Social Media Platforms




Platform Monthly Users Demographics Purpose Pros Cons

Facebook

1.4 billion
  • Highest usage among ages 45-54
  • 65% of users are age 35 or older
  • Unlike Twitter, average age of users is getting older
  • Among U.S. users - 53% female, 46% male
  • For sharing articles, photos, products, events etc. that you like or find interesting.
    • Most popular social network
    • Great for organizing events
    • Easy to communicate
    • Low business page visibility
    • Little control over platform
    • Saturated by ads & brands

    Instagram

    300 milion
  • More popular among women
  • Equal among Apple and Android smartphone users
  • Ages 35 and under
  • Most popular among urban users
  • Social sharing based only on pictures & 15 second video.
    • Great for strong visuals
    • Appeals to younger audience.
    • Simple to use
    • Links don’t work in captions
    • Limited Integration abilities

    Pinterest

    70 milion
  • 18-40 most popular age
  • 81% of Pinterest users are female
  • Men only account for 7% of total pins
  • 93% of active pinners said they use Pinterest to plan for purchases and 87% said they’ve purchased something because of Pinterest
  • A highly visual social site that is all about discovery
    and bookmarking links.
    • Source of Referral Traffic
    • Audience is ready to shop
    • Recipe sharing is huge
    • Just one advertising format:
      promoted pins
    • Good visuals are a must.

    Twitter

    313 milion
  • Virtually equal usage among genders
  • Most popular among ages 18-29
  • More urban/suburban users than rural
  • High levels of usage among African Americans
  • An online social networking platform and news service where users can post and share “re-tweet” short messages
    • Text-based (for easy on-the-go updating)
    • Real-time engagement opportunities
    • Hashtags are easy to create
    • Trending topics are easy to tap into when relevant
    • Fast-paced, might be hard to follow a longer story told through several Tweets
    • More anonymous; less authentic in some cases
    • Fewer features for organizations (no events, apps, etc.)