Nielsen: Tops of 2013
Seems like Instagram had grown so much, it is about to surpass Twitter in the number of average unique users, something that the execs at Twitter concern themselves about. Subscriber growth has been flat and even though ad revenues have been robust, Twitter is trying to make the platform more appealing and “user friendly” for social marketing purposes.
“Twitter’s growth flat line – which applies internationally as well as domestically — has created a crisis of confidence within the upper ranks of Twitter – especially since it’s playing out in the first few months after the company held its IPO. The reaction by Twitter seems to have been to broaden the appeal of the product to the masses. Grandma doesn’t know what an “@” sign or a hashtag is, so let’s try and make the product easier to use. Let’s add photo-tagging. Let’s add more frequent notifications that tell me two people I follow are having a conversation about the Academy Awards, so that maybe I’ll join in.” – Forbes.com – Twitter is Killing Itself
Nielsen released findings that Instagram has an average monthly smartphone audience of 32 million, compared with Twitter’s 30.8 million. That must hurt for Twitter, as it had been a suitor to acquire the social media platform before Facebook snapped it up.
“Unsurprisingly, Nieslen’s data awarded Facebook with the top honor of most-used smartphone app. With an average monthly audience of 103.4 million people across iOS and Android, Facebook reigned supreme in 2013. The social network’s arguably bigger win, though, was with Instagram, which it purchased in a deal originally valued at $1 billion.
But Twitter also tried to buy Instagram, and now Facebook has far more than bragging rights. Its high-priced get is getting a larger number of people to use its iOS and Android apps than Twitter’s apps on a monthly basis. That’s worth a heck of a lot as both public companies compete to increase their market value and grow their advertising revenue.” – Cnet.com – Nielsen: Instagram bigger