We’re been granularly tracking Facebook’s Growth since October 2007, which at the time it had a mere 20 million US users. Today it has over 103 million US based users. The following data shows the growth rates of various user bases in Facebook over the one year period from 1/4/2009 to 1/4/2010. All data comes directly from Facebook’s Social Ads system:
Key Insights:
Facebook’s US user base grew from 42 million to 103 million in 2009. That’s a 144.9% growth rate!
The 35+ demographic now represents more than 30% of the entire user base.
The 55+ audience grew a whopping 922.7% in 2009.
Atlanta had the highest growth rate in 2009 at 267.6%
I’m a big fan of Clearspring, which is a DC based widget platform and social ad network. We’ve been building widgets using their technology for a couple years (lots of examples here).
What most people don’t know is that they own a super awesome piece of technology called AddThis as well – which allows publishers to easily distribute their content to something like 230+ social networks and book marking services.
The real power in AddThis is the fact that their sharing widget is embedded in over 550,000 Web sites, touching over 600 million people world wide per month, loaded over 1.3 billion times per day. That kind of reach enables them to know which content is being shared the most, and to which services.
The following is the a list of the top 15 most shared pieces of content on the web in 2009 according to their data:
The List
Santa Yourself – 71,848 shares – http://www.dancingsantacard.com/en/
The Kim Komando Show – Video of the Day – African thunderstorm – 50,008 shares- http://videos.komando.com/2009/06/18/african-thunderstorm/
disinformation – Cannabis College Now Enrolling Students – 24,338 shares – http://www.disinfo.com/2009/11/cannabis-college-now-enrolling-students/?sms_ss=stumbleupon
Pawnation – Viral ‘Extreme Shepherding’ Ad Campaign Lights Up the Welsh Hills – 18,165 shares – http://www.pawnation.com/2009/12/11/viral-extreme-shepherding-ad-campaign-lights-up-the-welsh-hill/
TMZ – Michael Jackson Dies – 13,481 shares- http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/25/michael-jackson-dies-death-dead-cardiac-arrest/
Mercola.com – Swine Flu — One of the Most Massive Cover-ups in American History – 12,722 shares – http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/03/What-We-Have-Learned-About-the-Great-Swine-Flu-Pandemic.aspx?sms_ss=facebook
Pawnation – Faith the Two-Legged Dog Turns Seven This Christmas – 11,546 shares – http://www.pawnation.com/2009/12/18/faith-the-two-legged-dog-turns-seven-this-christmas/
CNBC – Santelli’s Tea Party – 11,020 shares – http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853
tom’s hardware – Best Graphics Cards For The Money: November ‘09 – 10,802 shares – http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2464.html?sms_ss=digg
Telegraph – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed to have Jewish past – 10,502 shares – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/6256173/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-revealed-to-have-Jewish-past.html
The Kim Komando Show – Video of the Day – Man’s surprising laugh – 7,340 shares- http://videos.komando.com/2008/06/04/mans-surprising-laugh/
El Caso Mascherano – Investigación – Parte 1 – 7,149 shares- http://www.casomascherano.com.ar/videos/investigacion-el-caso-mascherano-parte-1.php
El Caso Mascherano – Investigación – Parte 1 – 7,149 shares
One of the more fascinating things you can do with AddThis is compare which sharing services users from individual countries use most. For example, it’s no surprise that Facebook tops the list of overall most popular place to share content to globally. What’s interesting in the comparison below, though, is that Twitter is actually more popular in the UK then Email for sharing – that’s not the case in the US.
Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Sometimes is hard to call what we do at iStrategyLabs a ‘job’ or ‘work’. We have way to much fun for those words to apply. For sure we work really hard though – and one thing that’s been keeping up super busy over the past few weeks is Destination DC’s Weekend Warrior campaign.
Perhaps you’re aware that National Geographic Museum is hosting Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor, an exhibition featuring treasures from the tomb complex of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, including 15 life-size figures, weapons, armor, coins, and more.
What you may not know is that there are a number of ways to win a “Golden Weekend Get-away” courtesy of Destination DC. Here’s how:
1. If you’re on twitter, copy the link “http://bit.ly/warriorsdc” and tweet that along with a reason you want to come to DC. One lucky twitter user will win the following: two (2) night weekend stay at The Madison, A Loews Hotel, two (2) round-trip Amtrak tickets to DC, two (2) any-day, anytime tickets to the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibition at National Geographic Museum, two (2) tickets to the International Spy Museum, two (2) tickets for an Opentop Sightseeing City Tour. << You have until 12/3 to enter!
2. If you’re in Baltimore, Philadelphia or New York City – look out for a Terra Cotta Warrior invasion! If you capture a mini-terra cotta warrior, there’s an attached flag with a code that could unlock one of three Golden Weekend Get-away’s.
Here’s what they look like:
Baltimore was invaded last week and NYC is happening NOW (11/30)!
Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
