Social Network Overlap Statistics Yields Interesting Results

Yesterday, Compete.com release statistics about user overlap statistics among the top social networks. The findings were interesting. According to the results, 20 percent of MySpace users are Facebook users while the majority of Facebook users (64 percent) are also MySpace users. So does this graph mean anything or is it just a bunch of numbers?

With a little deeper analysis an interesting picture is revealed. According to the most recent statistics, here are the estimated user bases of the top 5 social networks:

• Myspace – 200+ million
• Orkut – 67 million
• Facebook – 52 million
• Friendster – 50 million
• Bebo – 40 million

Compete.com has calculated the following number of active users in October for each of the same social networks:

• MySpace – 65.21 million
• Facebook – 24.26 million
• Bebo – 2.83 million
• Friendster -1.346 million
• Orkut – .481 million

I have a feeling that some of these numbers (especially Orkut) are a little skewed given that the majority of Compete.com users are U.S. based. Aside from Orkut, I think most of these numbers are accurate. So what can we derive from these numbers? There is significant overlap across all the social networks. Approximately one third of Bebo users logged into Facebook last month. Additionally, a large number of MySpace users appear to be shifting over to Facebook. This was highlighted when Rupert Murdoch acknowledged earlier this year that a large number of his users were moving to Facebook.

So the ultimately conclusion: there is overlap. Aside from that it is difficult to derive anything given the lack of historical data in these charts. Many of the social networks are competing for a similar user base. Additionally, there is significant growth potential outside of the United States. Aside from that, there is not much to be derived from these stats. Compete.com provides yet another excellent piece of linkbait!