The social audience is growing across networks and countries. That is the takeaway from GlobalWebIndex’s “Stream Social: Quarterly Social Platforms Update.” The study found that Facebook remained the No. 1 social network worldwide, with just over half of internet users logging on to the site at least once a month in Q1 2013. eMarketer puts worldwide Facebook penetration slightly higher, expected to reach 60% of internet users this year.Behind Facebook, there was a crowded field of second-place contenders, with Google+ out front at 26% of internet users. In the US, Google+ gets limited attention, though its user base is growing. Worldwide, however, Google+ has been much more successful. Given that YouTube was right behind, in use by one-quarter of active internet users, there’s no question that Google, which owns YouTube, is giving Facebook a run for its money in the global social network space.

via Which Social Networks Are Growing Fastest Worldwide? – eMarketer.

India, Brazil and Russia, along with the Middle East and Africa, are driving the biggest gains in Facebook’s worldwide user base. According to new estimates from eMarketer, Facebook will pass 1 billion active users worldwide in 2013 as the company sees particularly strong growth in its Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin American user bases, with each region set to rise by about 30% or more this year. By next year, Facebook will reach 1.26 billion global users.

via Emerging Markets Drive Facebook User Growth – eMarketer.

In the finance world, knowledge is currency. And financial professionals seem to understand that staying tapped into their social networks is a great way to stay on top of the latest information. A Q1 2013 survey of financial professionals conducted by Research Now and American Century Investments found that social media platforms had a penetration rate of 90% among this group.

While Facebook remained the most popular overall social network, LinkedIn’s focus on business made it the top platform for work-related issues. One-third of respondents said they used LinkedIn only for business purposes, compared with 2% of Facebook users and 3% of respondents on Twitter.

via LinkedIn Is Social Network of Choice for Financial Professionals – eMarketer.

Pinterest has been the belle of the social media ball for some retailers, who are seeing nice traffic referrals from the social sharing site.

Unlike many social platforms, Pinterest has two things going for it: it isn’t just a bunch of early adopters on the coasts and it leads to actual sales. Here’s 15 stats that retailer’s should know about Pinterest.

via 15 Stats Retailers Should Know About Pinterest | Digiday.

JacobsMedia-Radio-Listeners-SocNet-Adoption-by-Generation-May2013The newly-released Techsurvey9 from Jacobs Media contains some very interesting data about the social networking preferences of Gen Z (born in 1993 or later) radio listeners. The study, which finds that radio listeners in the US and Canada are highly social overall, shows that compared to older generations, Gen Z listeners have a strong affinity for emerging social networks such as Tumblr and Snapchat, and are less drawn to Facebook. In fact, the survey finds that Baby Boomers (born between 1946-64; 73.3%) are as likely as Gen Zers (72.9%) to have a Facebook account. The results come on the heels of research from Piper Jaffray which found Twitter challenging Facebook as American teens’ most important social network.

via Tumblr and Snapchat Emerge as Popular SocNet Choices Among Gen Z Radio Listeners.

How many times have you uploaded a photo to your Facebook page only to see that, when it squeezed into the designated photo space, Facebook cropped half of it?

via Image sizes on Facebook: A cheat sheet | Articles | Main.

US consumers’ enthusiasm for social media and digital video is showing no signs of fatigue. According to Gfk, in partnership with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), time spent online rose yet again in 2012, boosted by particularly notable growth in daily usage of social networks and viewing of digital video.

via Social, Digital Video Drive Further Growth in Time Spent Online – eMarketer.

Google’s integration of user-driven information into its search results is especially apparent in the travel space. Though much maligned stateside, Google+ has a growing worldwide footprint, and research shows the network’s rising influence during the travel planning phase.

via Travelers Worldwide Look to Google+ as a Research Tool – eMarketer.

Online video attracts a significant audience, with 1 in 5 or more American adults watching a TV show online (23%), user-generated content (UGC – 31%), or originally produced online video (OPOV – 19%) on at least a monthly basis, per results from an IAB study [pdf] conducted by GfK. But who are these viewers? The study profiles the audience of each online video type, finding that they each skew male, but more so among OPOV viewers. Viewers of original online content also skew older than those who watch TV shows online.

via Who’s Watching Online Video?.

US moms continue to increase their social media usage. According to a March 2013 study by comScore for online parenting resource BabyCenter, more than 90% of US mom internet users reported using social media on a regular basis. BabyCenter estimated that 20% more moms used social media in 2013 than did so in 2010. At this point, moms who do not use social media are becoming practically unheard of.Moms between 18- to 34-years-old were not only more likely to be on social sites, they also spent considerably more time on Facebook than the general population—24% more time on desktop, and factoring in mobile, young moms spent 260% more time than the average user.

via Why Are Moms So Social? – eMarketer.