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In reply to my OpenSocial post, online reputation company Rapleaf co-founder Vivek Sodera sent me some interesting statistics that they have gathered. The statistics show the overlap of users between social networks. Why does this relate to OpenSocial? OpenSocial is a bridge between Social Networks and non-social networks. If User X has an account at 5 different social networks, and trends show that this is a common practice, and, as Rapleaf has done, you can identify which social networks have the greatest overlap, you could (for instance):

1. Target your OpenSocial implementation towards certain users
2. Verify that it is a good idea to participate in OpenSocial (wink, wink Facebook!)
3. Tailor your OpenSocial implementation to link data from certain social networks (those that show the greatest overlap)
4. Streamline a user’s access to their overlapping data!

Social Network Overlap - OpenSocial Participants (…and Facebook)

• The greatest overlap between OpenSocial container sites exists between Myspace and Hi5, in which 43% of Hi5 users also use Myspace.
• Facebook users are 63% female and 36% male whereas the sites integrated with the OpenSocial platform are 61% female and 38% male
• 52% of Facebook users are 18-25, whereas 40% of the users are 18-25 for the five container sites on the OpenSocial platform
• Facebook users tend to use 2.9 major social networking sites on average whereas users of OpenSocial container sites tend to use 2.7 major social networking sites

Detail

Facebook Users

• 2.6 million users identified in Rapleaf
• 63% female, 36% male
• 17% <18 yrs, 52% 18-25 yrs, 21% 26-35 yrs, 5% 36-45 yrs, 5% >45 yrs
• 2.9 major social networking sites used on average
• 62% are on Myspace, 5% are on LinkedIn, 9% are on Friendster, 10% are on Plaxo, 22% are on Hi5

Myspace Users

• 11.3 million users identified in Rapleaf
• 63% female, 36% male
• 20% <18 yrs, 40% 18-25 yrs, 27% 26-35 yrs, 7% 36-45 yrs, 6% >45 yrs
• 2.4 major social networking sites used on average
• 15% are on Facebook, 2% are on LinkedIn, 9% are on Friendster, 6% are on Plaxo, 17% are on Hi5

LinkedIn Users

• 0.8 million users identified in Rapleaf
• 38% female, 61% male
• 2% <18 yrs, 9% 18-25 yrs, 49% 26-35 yrs, 24% 36-45 yrs, 16% >45 yrs
• 3.2 major social networking sites used on average
• 16% are on Facebook, 25% are on Myspace, 12% are on Friendster, 16% are on Plaxo, 8% are on Hi5

Friendster Users

• 2.3 million users identified in Rapleaf
• 58% female, 41% male
• 12% <18 yrs, 39% 18-25 yrs, 36% 26-35 yrs, 7% 36-45 yrs, 5% >45 yrs
• 3.0 major social networking sites used on average
• 10% are on Facebook, 44% are on Myspace, 5% are on LinkedIn, 5% are on Plaxo, 26% are on Hi5

Plaxo Users

• 1.3 million users identified in Rapleaf
• 62% female, 37% male
• 16% <18 yrs, 39% 18-25 yrs, 24% 26-35 yrs, 10% 36-45 yrs, 11% >45 yrs
• 3.6 major social networking sites used on average
• 20% are on Facebook, 53% are on Myspace, 11% are on LinkedIn, 9% are on Friendster, 15% are on Hi5

Hi5 Users

• 4.5 million users identified in Rapleaf
• 60% female, 39% male
• 21% <18 yrs, 44% 18-25 yrs, 23% 26-35 yrs, 6% 36-45 yrs, 6% >45 yrs
• 2.8 major social networking sites used on average
• 13% are on Facebook, 43% are on Myspace, 2% are on LinkedIn, 13% are on Friendster, 2% are on Plaxo

Interesting; in this post on TechCrunch, Michael Arrington says “…resort to becoming a MySpace user along with the rest of the unwashed masses”, in response to somone who had their Facebook mysteriously deactivated.

Also, with all of these new platforms emerging, I am wondering what their overlap will be between each other?