Social media more popular than ever

by Robin Grant in News Google+

An almost unbelievable couple of graphs from Robin Goad at Hitwise, the first showing that 10.09% of all UK internet visits last week were to ‘Social Networking and Forums’.

UK Social Media traffic Dec '07 - Dec '08

And the second showing Facebook’s inexorable growth.

UK Facebook traffic Dec '07 - Dec '08

There’s some more in depth data available in Hitwise’s UK Social Networking Update from July this year, and it’s worth remembering these sort of growth curves apply across social media, with this graph showing a similarly stratospheric rise in UK blog traffic.

UK blog traffic May '05 - Jun '08

As Robin Goad said at the time:

over the last 3 years UK Internet traffic to out Blogs and Personal Websites category has increased by 208%, compared to 70% for News and Media. Another interesting fact is that the market share of blogs is greater in the UK than the USA: 1.09% and 0.73% respectively in May.

The trend also seems to apply even to Twitter

UK Twitter traffic Jul '07 - Jul '08

Again, a nice quote from Robin Goad:

UK Internet visits to Twitter have increased by 631% over the last 12 months, with 485% of that growth coming this year. Twitter is more popular with Brits than Americans: last week the site’s share of UK Internet visits was 70% higher its share of visits in America. Twitter cannot yet be considered mainstream in the USA, but in the UK it’s getting there.

I’d also point out that the Twitter data above pre-dates the Stephen Fry effect (disclosure: Stephen is a client of ours and we helped get him going on Twitter).

Roll on 2009…

Update 21st Jan ’09 – The latest UK Twitter stats.

If you liked this post, why not subscribe to We Are Social by or ?


tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

  • http://twitter.com/MemeStorm/statuses/1087735212 MemeStorm

    Twitter Comment by @MemeStorm (Jon Mountjoy)

    RT @RobinGrant: We Are Social blog: Social media more popular than ever [link to post] [Wow, 10% all UK traffic = social - Jon]

    http://twitter.com/MemeStorm/statuses/1087735212

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://raxraxrax.com Rax Lakhani

    Nice summary Robin.

  • http://www.charlesfrith.com charlesfrith

    Only good can come of this.

  • http://twitter.com/EaonP/statuses/1087832680 EaonP

    Twitter Comment by @EaonP (EAON PRITCHARD)

    from we-are-social – uk uplift on twitter is interesting [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/EaonP/statuses/1087832680

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://violetteverite.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/an-ode-to-all-the-things-i-didnt-do-on-the-last-day-of-2008/ An ode to all the things I didn’t do on the last day of 2008 «

    [...] I want to share with you a very interesting article from Robin Grant over at We Are Social on the impact of Social Media on internet usages in 2008. Definitely an interesting brainwave for the last afternoon of the [...]

  • http://weblogs.hitwise.com/robin-goad/ Robin Goad

    Thanks for quoting our data, Robin.

    Twitter has continued growing since we posted that data and last week accounted for 1 in every 10,000 UK Internet vsits. That may not sound very high, but its up from 1 in every 50,000 a year ago.

    We'll be posting some more detailed updated numbers next year, so keep an eye on blog for further updates.

    Robin Goad
    Research Director, Hitwise UK

  • http://twitter.com/garyandrews/statuses/1087857712 garyandrews

    Twitter Comment by @garyandrews (garyandrews)

    Really interesting stats and analysis on social media trends from the We Are Social team [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/garyandrews/statuses/1087857712

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • David cushman

    Time to rebrand hitwise? Longtailwise

  • http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan/statuses/1087887753 chrisbrogan

    Twitter Comment by @chrisbrogan (Chris Brogan)

    From @RobinGrant , numbers. We need numbers – [link to post] (book mark these for your casestudies)

    http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan/statuses/1087887753

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/timtracey/statuses/1087889965 timtracey

    Twitter Comment by @timtracey (timtracey)

    RT @chrisbrogan From @RobinGrant , numbers. We need numbers – [link to post] (book mark these for your casestudies) WOW!

    http://twitter.com/timtracey/statuses/1087889965

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/workhappynow/statuses/1087889910 workhappynow

    Twitter Comment by @workhappynow (workhappynow)

    RT @chrisbrogan: From @RobinGrant , numbers. We need numbers – [link to post] (book mark these for your casestudies)

    http://twitter.com/workhappynow/statuses/1087889910

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://hiddenchemistry.com/2008/12/social-media-more-popular-than-ever/ Social media more popular than ever « Peter Parkes

    [...] Social media more popular than ever · Unsurprising stuff really, but it’s nice to have a graph to prove that internet increasingly = Facebook. Unfortunately, there’s no means of breaking down visitors by age (or indeed any other factor) so the practical usefulness of the results is limited. Proceed with caution. [...]

  • http://twitter.com/JanSimpson/statuses/1087896824 JanSimpson

    Twitter Comment by @JanSimpson (JanSimpson)

    RT @workhappynow RT @chrisbrogan: From @RobinGrant , numbers. We need numbers – [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/JanSimpson/statuses/1087896824

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/suelyn/statuses/1087897373 suelyn

    Twitter Comment by @suelyn (suelyn)

    RT [link to post] Social Media More Popular than Ever thanks to @chrisbrogan for link.

    http://twitter.com/suelyn/statuses/1087897373

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/tkpleslie/statuses/1087902989 tkpleslie

    Twitter Comment by @tkpleslie (Leslie Carothers)

    Robinof Hitwise via @chrisbrogan tells us of the meteoric rise in popularity of Twitter in UK via charts and stats:[link to post]

    http://twitter.com/tkpleslie/statuses/1087902989

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/PatrickRedknap/statuses/1087904883 PatrickRedknap

    Twitter Comment by @PatrickRedknap (PatrickRedknap)

    RT @chrisbrogan: From @RobinGrant , numbers. We need numbers – [link to post] (book mark these for your casestudies)

    http://twitter.com/PatrickRedknap/statuses/1087904883

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://raxraxrax.com Rax Lakhani

    Look forward to these, Robin. It would be interesting to see level of month on month growth by the end of Q1 2009. Given recent media attention from @wossy in the Mail to today's FT piece – Twitter will continue to gain momentum with mainstream audiences.

  • http://twitter.com/TwitLinksRSS/statuses/1087962429 TwitLinksRSS

    Twitter Comment by @TwitLinksRSS (TwitLinksRSS)

    Social media more popular than ever / we are social: An almost unbelievable couple of graphs from Robin Goad at .. [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/TwitLinksRSS/statuses/1087962429

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/deliciousnew/statuses/1088056177 deliciousnew

    Twitter Comment by @deliciousnew (delicious.com)

    Social media more popular than ever / we are social [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/deliciousnew/statuses/1088056177

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/SteveFouch/statuses/1088067180 SteveFouch

    Twitter Comment by @SteveFouch (SteveFouch)

    “Twitter cannot yet be considered mainstream in the USA, but in the UK it’s getting there.” – [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/SteveFouch/statuses/1088067180

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/Net2/statuses/1088068270 Net2

    Twitter Comment by @Net2 (Web2.0 SEO)

    #delicious : Social media more popular than ever / we are social [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/Net2/statuses/1088068270

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/integrateit/statuses/1088082150 integrateit

    Twitter Comment by @integrateit (Kyle Welsh)

    del.ici.us-popular Social media more popular than ever / we are social [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/integrateit/statuses/1088082150

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/websenat/statuses/1088277849 websenat

    Twitter Comment by @websenat (websenat)

    Social media more popular than ever [link to post] #social

    http://twitter.com/websenat/statuses/1088277849

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://graemedouglas.wordpress.com doug

    lovely stuff. thx for flagging

  • http://twitter.com/RichardLemon/statuses/1088622394 RichardLemon

    Twitter Comment by @RichardLemon (RichardLemon)

    Social Media more popular then ever: [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/RichardLemon/statuses/1088622394

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://www.contentandmotion.co.uk/online-pr-agency-services/ Roger, Online PR Agency C&M

    fab stuff – thanks for sharing robin. the first graph is pretty staggering – 10% of traffic to social networking sites. Wow! That's a huge proportion…. and a nice figure for you guys to use in 2009 : ) All the best for the new year. Have a good one – hope to see you sometime soon….

  • http://twitter.com/BenLaMothe/statuses/1089874291 BenLaMothe

    Twitter Comment by @BenLaMothe (Ben LaMothe)

    RT @RobinGrant The UK’s Social Media trends [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/BenLaMothe/statuses/1089874291

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://www.jazamatazz.wordpress.com JazCummins

    Very cool stuff. Hadn't spotted – all exciting for 09!

  • http://chrishambly.com Chris

    Thanks for pointing this out Robin.

    So it tells us that we were all on holiday last week and socialising online?

    In all seriousness though the steady upward curve looks more interesting.

  • http://renaissancechambara.jp/2009/01/02/links-of-the-day-160/ renaissance chambara | Ged Carroll – Links of the day

    [...] Social media more popular than ever / we are social – nice bit of research from Robin and the guys at we are social [...]

  • http://twitter.com/Armano/statuses/1091951453 Armano

    Twitter Comment by @Armano (David Armano)

    Social media more popular than ever [link to post] monetizing, is another story. :-)

    http://twitter.com/Armano/statuses/1091951453

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://blog.wardelldesign.com/ Wardell

    Great stats, Twitters growth in 2008 was amazing.

  • http://twitter.com/franswaa frank

    Glad to check out some stats. thanks for sharing.

    might you have the US versions of these??


    http://twitter.com/franswaa

  • http://www.whirledgital.com Tim

    Wowzers. These are great stats Robin! Will be interesting to see how the definition of a 'blog' and indeed 'social media' changes as they become increasingly 'mainstream'… won't all media be 'social' in a few years?!

  • http://twitter.com/jdlasica/statuses/1093076303 jdlasica

    Twitter Comment by @jdlasica (JD Lasica)

    Social media more popular than ever, with big growth spurt in UK. [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/jdlasica/statuses/1093076303

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://www.garyviray.com Busby SEO Test

    Amazing growth for the U.K. Tying it with this eMarketer article, things are looking bright there http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006830

  • http://twitter.com/johngalpin/statuses/1093507872 johngalpin

    Twitter Comment by @johngalpin (johngalpin)

    Social media more popular than ever, with big growth spurt in UK. [link to post] (via @jdlasica)

    http://twitter.com/johngalpin/statuses/1093507872

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/juliandarley/statuses/1094146622 juliandarley

    Twitter Comment by @juliandarley (Julian Darley)

    RT @wearesocial interesting graphs of social media activity [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/juliandarley/statuses/1094146622

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://smallblogsbig.blogspot.com amr rezk

    social marketing has become a science that follows its own rules, that's why I've been studying the topic and applied the techniques and now I try to teach them on my blog.

  • http://twitter.com/BrendanCooper/statuses/1096831892 BrendanCooper

    Twitter Comment by @BrendanCooper (Brendan Cooper)

    Shared: Social media more popular than ever / we are social: 10.09% of all UK internet visits last week w.. [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/BrendanCooper/statuses/1096831892

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://brendancooper.com/2009/01/06/links-for-2009-01-06/ links for 2009-01-06 « Brendan Cooper, your Friendly Digital Social Media PR, ummm, Thingy

    [...] Social media more popular than ever / we are social 10.09% of all UK internet visits last week were to ‘Social Networking and Forums’.Wow. (tags: robingrant robingoad socialmedia forums measurement socialnetworking statistics research trends forblog) Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)The Role of SEO in PRSocial Media, Whitelines, Fractional Jets, Red Robot, Digital RoadmapCool In-Game Ads, Social Media Toolkit, Flogos, Twittering Ted, IKEA Pop Up…Use ’Company’ field in iPhone’s Contacts app for tagging Posted in PR. [...]

  • http://azeemazhar.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/counter-seasonal-social-networks/ Counter seasonal social networks « azeem.azhar

    [...] that they do if it is social networking. Robin Grant points to facebook usage in the UK over the past year–noticeable spikes of Christmas because [...]

  • http://twitter.com/davetropeano/statuses/1102149030 davetropeano

    Twitter Comment by @davetropeano (davetropeano)

    social media more popular than ever [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/davetropeano/statuses/1102149030

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • joshua

    wow. that awesome. social media really is quite a phenomenon. thanks

  • http://twitter.com/petermoore/statuses/1106461381 petermoore

    Twitter Comment by @petermoore (Peter Moore)

    Having a poke around we are social (‘s) excellent website. Not seen any of these graphs from Hitwise before: [link to post]

    http://twitter.com/petermoore/statuses/1106461381

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/bluewavemedia/statuses/1109529046 @bluewavemedia (Kimberly Beaven)

    Twitter Comment

    Social media more popular than ever [link to post] by @wearesocial

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/kyleplacy/statuses/1109572999 @kyleplacy (kyleplacy)

    Twitter Comment

    RT @gacconsultants: RT @bluewavemedia: Social media more popular than ever [link to post] by @wearesocial

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/gacconsultants/statuses/1109571573 @gacconsultants (Mark Harai)

    Twitter Comment

    RT @bluewavemedia: Social media more popular than ever [link to post] by @wearesocial

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://wearesocial.net/blog/2009/01/social-media-spend-rise-2009/ US social media spend to rise in 2009 / we are social

    [...] with the phenomenal growth in people’s usage of social media and the impact this has on their purchase decisions, this makes us even more confident that the [...]

  • http://twitter.com/SonjaJefferson/statuses/1113185343 SonjaJefferson (SonjaJefferson)

    Twitter Comment

    Social media more popular than ever in the UK – check these graphs – [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://www.puddingrelations.com/the-rise-and-rise-of-social-media-in-the-uk/ The Rise and Rise of Social Media in the UK

    [...] at the We Are Social blog, Robin Grant points towards research from Hitwise showing that 10.09% of all UK internet visits [...]

  • http://wearesocial.net/blog/2009/01/why-do-people-use-twitter/ Why do people use Twitter? / we are social

    [...] I’ve got your attention, why not have a look at the last set of stats on Twitter usage in the UK, see Chris’ commentary on why the British tabloids are so hostile to Twitter or follow me on [...]

  • http://wearesocial.net/blog/2009/01/twitter-grows-974-12-months/ Twitter grows 974% in the last 12 months / we are social

    [...] on from our recent compendium of social media traffic growth, Robin Goad has posted Hitwise’s latest stats about Twitter’s phenomenal growth in the [...]

  • http://twitter.com/thedigikid/statuses/1138677358 thedigikid (thedigikid)

    Twitter Comment


    @olliejudge Apparently Twitter is more mainstream in the UK than the US… [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/kevinandmclean/statuses/1141667796 kevinandmclean (kevinandmclean)

    Twitter Comment


    just reads stats about Twitter – gasp!
    [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://twitter.com/SpencerMike/statuses/1176015077 SpencerMike (SpencerMike)

    Twitter Comment


    Social media on the up…thanks WeAreSocial [link to post]

    – Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://123socialmedia.com/2009/01/06/the-death-of-public-relations-will-social-media-kill-the-beast/ The Death of Public Relations. Will social media kill the beast?

    [...] Social Media more popular than ever. [...]

  • http://wearesocial.net/blog/2009/02/european-social-network-usage/ European social network usage / we are social

    [...] pretty astounding chart that shows social media’s impact isn’t limited just to the UK and the [...]

  • s

    yea awesome dude… lol hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

  • http://psykoid.com/2009/03/will-2009-be-the-ultimate-social-year/ Will 2009 be the Ultimate Social Year? | psykoid.com

    [...] We Are Social has written a very interesting article regarding social media figures in the UK, describing how swiftly we are starting to adapt to social networks. Even cell phone companies are expanding their users’ Internet options, which strengthens even more the ever more permanent connection that cell phone users have with the social web. This is surely going to make us more dependent upon such websites and to give them an even bigger place in our everyday lives. [...]

  • http://wearesocial.net/blog/2009/04/twitters-traffic-still-on-the-rise/ Twitter’s traffic still on the rise / we are social

    [...] not much more to add – Twitter’s meteoric rise continues (as does that of social media in general), brands need to take notice. [...]

  • wiliam143

    Facebook growing is no surprise. In fact it would be a surprise if Facebook did not grow. It is quite simple, Facebook has had the most money invested, literally poured, into it, at 500 million USD. This immense, and some amy say ridiculous amount of capital can be aggressively spent on PR and marketing schemas to acquire users.

    Twitter also has now secured 55 million total USD in financing, and this too will be poured into PR and user acquisition efforts.

    So really growth is just an effect of how much money you can spend to pay newspapers, press, bloggers and other communication channels to write about your service.

    The internet is far removed from the days when technical innovation meant growth and success of web hosting, and is now just a reflection of the physical world, where marketing and PR dollars are a must in order to build a brand. In numbers Facebook has 175 million users and has almost burned through 500 million USD (i.e. they have paid almost 3 USD a user).

    MySpace, for all its flaws, is making good revenue in comparison to their total funding, which I believe was only like 20 million USD, before News Corp acquired the service.

  • staffing225

    Thank You for the nice summary given.
    For more jobs visit http://www.staffingpower.com

  • http://getopenid.com/newdeals2 Guest

    I just love those enjoyable and punchy critics. keep on going!
    mcse

  • http://www.electroserv.com.au Power Factor Correction

    Excellent resource of quality information, thanks a lot.

  • http://www.electroserv.com.au Power Factor Correction

    Electroserv specialises in design and installation of Power Correction Systems using Electrical Power Factor Correction.

  • http://www.electroserv.com.au Electricity Cost reductions

    always keep producing fascinating blogs like this one its real worthy