The social media scene is evolving. In other words, it’s as if the polar icecaps of Facebook are melting, and from that, we’re uncovering vast content factories, peaks of excessive self-importance and self-awareness, along with an endless stream of cat videos. The changes are happening so rapidly that experiments like Mat Honan’s (“liking” everything on Facebook for two days) are completely valid as both performance art and research on communication.

What people are sharing and how they’re sharing it is changing. Changing fast. A new infographic from Go-Gulf, a web design team based in Dubai, has gathered the latest data, which is now available in this newly released (July 2014) social media infographic. Here are the highlights…

What People Like to Share on Social Networks

  • 43% Pictures
  • 26% Opinions
  • 26% Status Update of what and how they are doing
  • 26% Links to articles
  • 25% Personal recommendations of things they like
  • 22% News items
  • 21% Links to other websites
  • 21% Links to other people’s posts
  • 19% Status update of what they are feeling
  • 17% Video clips
  • 9% Plans for future activities, trips and updates

The Social Media Strategy Takeaway: Almost a year ago, Facebook users were sharing 350 million photos daily on Facebook, according to internet.org (via Business Insider). This doesn’t even count Instagram. And that number is a year old – a period when Facebook has continued to expand. Instead of sharing your content as a link, consider posting a photo with the link in the caption. Typically, photos have been shown to get more engagement than links on Facebook – although the rules have shifted.

Why Do People Share on Social Networks?

  • 84% Share because it is a way to support causes or issues they care about.
  • 78% Share information online because it lets them stay connected to people they may not otherwise stay in touch with.
  • 73% Share information because it helps them connect with others who share their interests.
  • 69% Share information because it allows them to feel more involved in the world.
  • 68% Share to give people a better sense of who they are and what they care about.
  • 49% Share information on products they like with a hope to change opinions or encourage action.

The Social Media Strategy Takeaway: When posting content to Facebook, take a strategic perspective, and ask yourself, “Why would someone want to ‘like’ or ‘share’ this post with a friend via Timeline?” One approach to determining the potential value of your post would be to start at the top of this list, and aim for the majority of your content to fit into the ‘why’ criteria in the top half of the above list.

Go-Gulf’s Social Media Infographic

We’ve only covered the tip of the iceberg. View the full infographic from Go-Gulf below. Have a question or comment? Let’s talk in the comments section below.

Infographic by- GO-Gulf.ae