Silver surfers flock to social networks

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn enjoyed record unique-audience figures last month, according to the latest official data from UKOM/Nielsen.

• Official figures show Twitter’s UK audience jumped by a third in May following Giggsgate – the number of women pensioners visiting the site doubles

• Over-50s are the key drivers of growth in audiences to social networks

• Facebook overtakes MSN to become the UK’s no.2 site

Some 26.8million Brits visited Facebook in May 2011 – the highest-ever number – which was enough to propel it for the first time above the collective web-brand of MSN/WindowsLive/Bing, making it the UK’s second most-popular site, behind Google.

Top-3 brands online by unique UK visitors (000s)

Source: UKOM/Nielsen, May 2011

At the centre of the Ryan Giggs super-injunction debate, Twitter also enjoyed its highest-ever UK audience last month, with 6.14 million Brits visiting the site from home and work computers in May – up a massive 34% on April.  The monthly audience rise was helped by a 65% increase in the number of men aged 50-64 and a doubling (96% rise) in the number of women over-65 visiting the site.

The business network LinkedIn continued its steady ascent, registering 3.59 million UK visitors in May 2011, up 57% on the same month last year.

UKOM general manager James Smythe said: “The growth in audiences to these social networks is now primarily being driven by the 50-plus age group. Just a few years ago, this group may have found itself out of place on these sites; now, on Facebook, for example, they account for more new adults visiting the site in the last two years than the under-50s.”

Just two years ago, in the UK, the profile of Facebook’s audience was noticeably skewed towards 18-34 year olds. This is no longer the case, according to UKOM/Nielsen. While Facebook’s unique UK audience has risen 41% since May 2009, the increase in the number of 50-64 year-olds visiting the site has easily outstripped this, growing by 84%.  And it’s not just baby-boomers visiting the site; the number of over-65s has increased across the same period by 81%.  The age profile of visitors to Facebook now much more closely reflects the age profile of the UK online population as a whole.

The likelihood of different age-groups to visit Facebook, May 2009 vs. May 2011

(Age-composition index by unique audience)

Source: UKOM/Nielsen

(An age-composition index of 100 means the proportion of that age group visiting Facebook exactly matches the composition of that age group as a proportion of the entire UK online population.  The red bars are much closer to the 100-mark, than the blue bars.  Eg. In May 2009, with an index of 133, a visitor to the Facebook site was 33% more likely to be an 18-34 year-old than the average UK user online; now they’re only 13% more likely.)

The story is similar for Twitter – older age-groups are becoming more likely to visit the site.  But unlike Facebook, the under-18s are less likely to visit Twitter than two years ago.

The likelihood of different age-groups to visit Twitter, May 2009 vs. May 2011

(Age-composition index by unique audience)

Source: UKOM/Nielsen

The growing number of over-50s visiting social networks is presenting brands with new opportunities. Nielsen senior director Stephanie Hayden explains: “It’s becoming more commonplace for the over-50s to discuss topics online with people they do and don’t know.  For some brands, this can open up a new marketing channel.

“Brands should first gain a deeper understanding of how and why their older consumers are using social networks.  Depending on the evaluation, they may benefit from creating a new Facebook page or Twitter account.  It can even be appropriate for brands to go further, giving opportunities for older consumers with more life-experience to facilitate conversations, offer expert advice, or provide a place where people can share experiences, ask questions, and help each other.

“In addition, for all brands, the growing number of silver surfers on social networks, means these sites – as a consumer-insight tool – are becoming more and more representative of the total market.  Consumers of all ages are online right now having millions of conversations about brands, categories, but more importantly, the key topics that matter to them.  All companies should be making the effort to listen to consumers online in order to stay relevant to them and to fuel new directions for their brand.”

While the number of UK visitors to the three-biggest social networks continues to rise, the amount of time these audiences are spending on these sites is more mixed.  The average visitor to Facebook and LinkedIn is spending a little longer on those sites each month than they were two years ago, while the average visitor to Twitter appears to be spending a little less.

Time spent per user (hh:mm:ss), May 2009 vs. May 2011

Source: UKOM/Nielsen

Further afield, the rise in UK audiences to the most-popular social networks has also been mirrored in the US.  In May, Facebook topped 140million unique US visitors, up 12% on the same time last year, and up 5% on the previous month.  US visitors to Twitter were up 22% year on year.

Unique UK visitors (000s)

Source: UKOM/Nielsen

Unique US visitors (000s)

Source: Nielsen

Similar YoY increases in unique visitors were recorded on mainland Europe.  Facebook is up 7% in Spain, 18% in France, 26% in Italy and 72% in Germany.  Twitter audiences dropped YoY in Germany -11%t, but are up 48% in France, 58% in Italy and 102% in Spain.