It’s been a rough few weeks for Facebook, which has been juggling the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica scandal ever since former employee Christopher Wylie went public with his whistle-blowing allegations. As previous Verto Analytics data has shown, consumers spend a majority of digital day using social media and communications apps and sites: as of July 2017, these types of apps and sites – such as Facebook, Gmail, and Snapchat – accounted for more than 41% of the time that consumers spent online. And within that category, Facebook is the clear leader in terms of monthly users; according to our October 2017 Verto Index: Social Media, Facebook claimed nearly 200 million users in the U.S. (among adults, ages 18 and above).
Which social media platforms could consumers turn to instead of Facebook?
While the repercussions from the latest Facebook troubles have yet to be fully seen, which social media platforms might benefit if consumers shifted their attentions and loyalties away from Facebook? Verto Analytics looked at the top-ranking social media platforms, based on the amount of time spent per user and the average number of monthly sessions per user.
According to Verto Watch data, Facebook is well ahead of the competition: the average user spent more than 11.5 hours per month on Facebook, spread across 137 sessions (about 4.5 sessions per day) in February 2018. Snapchat, the second-ranking social media platform, attracts just 4.75 hours of consumer time per month, spread across 140 sessions, while Twitter garners just 2 hours and 44 minutes of user time per month. If the #deletefacebook backlash picks up speed, the other top-ranking social media networks will certainly have big shoes (and massive amounts of consumer time) to fill before they can approach any of Facebook’s engagement numbers.
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