What are 2 key factors driving the social web in 2013?

Many moons ago i said that there would be three things pushing social along.

1. Being mobile. Hmm - yep that one was spot on.

2. Being photos - I think Instagram and the numbers behind vine etc tells that story.

3. Being location - this is yet to come.

According to a GlobalWebIndex study it is:

1. Mobile – with the number of people accessing the internet via a mobile phone increasing by 60.3% to 818.4 million in the last 2 years.
2. Older users adoption – On Twitter the 55-64 year age bracket is the fastest growing demographic with 79% growth rate since 2012. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook’s and Google+’s networks are the 45 to 54 year age bracket at 46% and 56% respectively.

These 2 key factors are keeping the social web bubbling along. So maybe the reason your grandparents aren’t turning up to that dinner party is that they have now discovered Facebook and Twitter!

So let’s look at some of the facts, figures and statistics for the major social networks.

Facebook

Facebook continues to grow and work out how to make money from its ads and mobile users.

Here are the latest facts and figures from its earnings call for the first quarter of 2013

• Daily active users have reached 665 million
• Monthly active users have passed 1.1 billion for the first time
• 751 million mobile users access Facebook every month
• Mobile only active users total 189 million
• Mobile now generates 30% of its ad revenue up from 23% at the end of 2012

Twitter

Twitter is the fastest growing social network in the world by active users according to a GlobalWebIndex Study.

So how does that translate into hard numbers?

• 44% growth from  June 2012 to March 2013
• 288 million monthly active users
• That means that 21% of the world’s internet population are using Twitter every month
• Over 500 million registered accounts
• Twitter’s fastest growing age demographic is 55 to 64 year olds, registering an increase in active users of 79%

YouTube

When you wanted to watch a video it used to be VCR, then it became a  DVD player, then we moved onto cable networks and now it is YouTube.

These numbers from YouTube’s own blog put some perspective on it penetration into our culture and time.

• 1 billion unique monthly visitors
• 6 billion hours of videos are watched every month
• This means that 50% more hours of video are watched in March 2013 compared to last August when it was 4 billion hours a month and last May when it was 3 billion.
• YouTube reaches more U.S. adults ages 18-34 than any cable network

Google+

Google+ is making an impact on the social media universe and is now the second largest social network.

What are some of the numbers on Google’s social network built to protect it from Facebook’s growth and data capture to ensure it remains relevant?

It is Google’s social layer that enhances it’s other online assets.

• 359 million monthly active users according to a GlobalWebIndex study
• Its active users base grew by 33% from June 2012 through to March 2013

LinkedIn

The largest professional business network on the planet continues to grow but not at the pace of Twitter or Google+

Here are some numbers from Visual.ly.

• Over 200 million users
• 2 new users join it every second
• 64% of users are outside the USA

 All of this is great stuff. 

But what really now interests me is WHO - not what - but WHO - who is going to do all this clever social things for companies? 

I truly believe that one way is to arm the next generation with training, with real know how, with business needed skills so we can all join this social revolution :) 

Which is why I started working with The Apprentice Academy - as they, like me, know that training young people to be apprentices - in established companies will be better way forward for the economy in the UK, than a couple of new companies starting up.