Social Media Statistics Australia – September 2012

It might be a public holiday here in NSW, but it’s the first of the month and time for us to compile our latest monthly social media statistics.

This month we have added aditional checks and verification of stats by comparing the Google data with that from Quantcast and Comscore – 2 independant and leading global web statistics and research companies.

As always, every month we look at the stats in the following order of importance:

1. Number of active Australian users going to that particular social network each month (this is often reported by that particular social network, or an estimation of global data)
2. Number of unique Australian Visitors (UAVs) going to that social network each month (this figure often comes from Google Adplanner)
3. User numbers reported by that particular social network or reputable source.

The number of Monthly Active Users to any particular social network is the most accurate and useful figure we want to establish and report each month.

Social Media Statistics Australia – September 2012

1. Facebook – 11,500,000 Australian users/accounts (steady – as reported by Facebook Australia Cheif, Liam Walsh) – 13 million UAVs according to Google Adplanner (users logging in from multiple locations – home, work, school etc).
2. YouTube – 11,000,000 UAVs (steady)
3. Blogspot – 3,800,000 (down 200,000)
4. LinkedIn – 2,200,000 (steady)
5. Twitter – 2,114,000 (steady, see last month for formulae/ calculation)
6. WordPress.com – 1,700,000 (up 100,000)
7. Instagram – 1,500,000 (up 200,000) – using Facebook estimate, see calculation below (500,000 UAVs)
8. Tumblr – 1,100,000 (down 100,000)
9. TripAdvisor – 960,000 (steady)
10. Flickr – 800,000 (down 20,000)
11. Pinterest – 640,000 (up 20,000)
12. MySpace – 390,000 (steady)
13. Google Plus – approx 377,500 (down approx 300,000 see calculation below).
14. Yelp – 200,000 (up 8,000)
15. Reddit – 150,000 (steady)
16. StumbleUpon – 100,000 (down 10,000)
17. Digg – 65,000 (down 12,000)
18. Foursquare – 58,000 (down 5,000)
19. Delicious – 30,000 (steady)

Instagram User number Calculation

Again we will use the Facebook formulae of 1.51% – meaning the Australian audience is 1.51% of the total global audience. Instagram has recently reached 100 million users worldwide (September 2012).

Taking 1.51% being Australian, the figure of 1.5 million seems more reasonable. This is again showing further growth from last month and Instagram is still experiencing significant growth all around the world, including Australia.

Google Plus user number Calculation

Google recently reported that they have 100 million monthly active users on Google Plus. This is actually down on previous figures reported (150 million active users). Using the Facebook formulae of 1.51% of the total audience being Australia – this simple calculation means there are 1.51 million Australian’s as active users on Google Plus. From my experience and research this level of users is too high and the true figure would be around 1/4 of this number – 377,500.

Average Time per Visit 

1. Facebook - 25 minutes 43 seconds
2. YouTube – 17 minutes 35 seconds
3. Reddit – 12 minutes 30 seconds
4. Tumblr – 16 minutes 30 seconds
5. Pinterest - 13 minutes
6. MySpace – 12 minutes 30 seconds
7. Twitter – 11 minutes 20 seconds
8. LinkedIn - 8 minutes 50 seconds
9. TripAdvisor - 8 minutes 50 seconds
10. StumbleUpon - 8 minutes 40 seconds
11. Flickr – 8 minutes
12. Delicious – 7 minutes 20 seconds
13. Blogspot - 6 minutes 40 seconds
14. WordPress.com – 5 minutes 30 seconds
15. Digg – 5 minutes 30 seconds
16. Foursquare - 4 minutes
17. Yelp – 3 minutes 40 seconds
18. Instagram – 3 minutes
19. Google Plus – no data.

Key Points to note this month

• Most of the leading social networks are steady in their user numbers. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter sustaining user numbers and gaining new members at minimal rate now.
• Digg.com has undergone a major redesign vastly different from the origional layout. This has seen many users stop using the site.
• MySpace has undergone a major redesgin, but has not created a siginificant impact with user metrics.

You can view our report for August, or the whole archive of social media stats for more info.

Feel free to post our stats on your site, if you link back to this page – as per our Creative Commons License CC BY-ND 3.0

Stats courtesy: Google DoubleClick Ad Planner tool, Google Trends, Google Insights, Comcast, Quantcast, Facebook Self-Serve advertising tool, Checkfacebook.com, Official Facebook representatives & Vivid Social Research Division. Figures correct as of 30/09/12.