Pinterest has emerged as the third most-popular social networking site in the US after Facebook and Twitter, new research from Experian has claimed.
According to the Experian 2012 Digital Marketer report, social networking reigns as the top activity online in the US and captured nearly 15pc of al US internet visits in December 2011.
Facebook captured the highest share of visits overall – 10pc or one in 10 of all US visits – as well as capturing one out of five of every page views with visitors spending an average of 20 minutes on the site.
Twitter and LinkedIn grew 45pc and 98pc respectively, while Google+ grew by a massive 800pc between August and December 2011.
The Pinterest enigma
The Experian 2012 Digital Marketer says Pinterest is the social network to watch, for retailers in particular, and is the hottest social media start-up since Facebook and YouTube.
It says Pinterest is now the third most popular US social networking site behind Facebook and Twitter, with traffic up nearly 50pc in February 2012 compared with January 2012.
The site received nearly 21.5m total visits during the week ending 28 January, almost 30 times the number of total visits versus six months earlier.
Experian notes that the site is dominated by images featuring home décor, crafts, fashion and food.
Visitors to the site in the 12 weeks leading up to 28 January skewed 60pc female and between the ages of 25 and 44.
The data shows that Boomers and Boomerangs are the group most likely to visit Pinterest – baby boomers and young adults who are heavy web users and who spend time on house and garden, sports and fitness and family-oriented websites.
“The popularity of Pinterest is a result of the next phase of the behaviour we’ve seen online over the last few years. Users are increasingly more comfortable with recommendations from friends or other users when they come through social personalisation.
“As communities become less about friends and more about common interests, retail brands in particular need to take note if they want to make more meaningful connections with their customers,” the Experian Digital Marketer report said.
