Do dormant social users add brand value?

October 1, 2012

Findings from BT’s study earlier this year may have pointed towards females being the social media obsessives; but the latest data from Global Web Index into social platforms indicates it’s more of a man’s game. Almost every platform skews male, with the highest male ratio on LinkedIn (65%), followed by Google+ (64%), Twitter (62%) and Facebook (56%). The only platform bucking the trend is Pinterest, with a marginal female majority (54%).

More eye-opening, however, is the light Global Web Index’s dataset – gathered in Q2 this year – shines on platform engagement. Facebook may have the social media monopoly (currently standing at 1.14billion users), but only 3% of those surveyed actually posted anything in the past month. That number rose to 47% when considering those who had visited the site in the past month; and jumped to 61% when including those who were active. And Twitter? Slightly better; of the platform’s 517m users, just under a quarter have tweeted in the past month (24%).

So is there brand value in chasing numbers when 97% of the Facebook population is dormant? Facebook’s recent cull of ‘fake’ fans seems to imply even Facebook thinks not.

Perhaps hyper-local and micro engagement with core consumer networks that actually engage and drive Edgerank scores might be a better way forward.

Here’s the slideshare for a bitesize snapshot of the full report:

Social Platforms Global Report

Latest Posts

The social media landscape continues to evolve at crazy speeds, with new creative formats and strategies emerging constantly. As we move through 2025, brands are facing both unprecedented opportunities and unique challenges in capturing audience attention. Here’s your comprehensive guide to the latest trends reshaping social media creativity. The Rise…

Your visual identity is the key to telling your brand’s story on social media. As you already know, on social, you might only have a second or two to make an impression, and that impression often isn’t based on what you say; it’s based on what you look like. That’s…

Everyone said Threads was just another desperate attempt by Meta to copy Twitter – and, well – they were right. But two years down the line and Threads is slowly building its own case…for itself, and against its rivals X and Bluesky. In July 2023, Threads emerged gaining 2 million…