Social media is not limited to public networks like Facebook Inc FB or Twitter Inc TWTR, but also comprises other networks, dubbed “dark social media.” While the name might suggest there’s something shady about these channels, there is not; dark social media includes email, instant messaging and other non-public channels.
As explained by Statista data journalist Dyfed Loesche, what makes dark social media dark is that it “entails private referral traffic that’s harder to track, as it comes back without referral data attached.”
Now, one would believe that sharing information via email is a thing of the past, but it’s not – even though retailers and publishers would have their work cut out a lot easier if all sharing was concentrated in public social networks where they can track their performance and reach. A recent RadiumOne study concluded that the case is quite the opposite: 84 percent of content is currently shared via e-mails and instant messaging services. Also interesting, most of the sharing is done from mobile devices.
Below is a chart illustrating global dark social media sharing activity, broken down by devices.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.
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