Social media is one of the most dynamic, evolving and exciting mediums on the planet – which is why we love it so much. But it can be challenging amid the constant updates, refreshes and IPOs to see the forest for the trees.

The latest study from GlobalWebIndex takes the pulse of social and comes up with some surprising results. Here are five of the top takeaways. 

Facebook reigns

Facebook now accounts for a massive 50 per cent of all active internet users. And it isn't likely to lose its top dog status anytime soon as the original social network aggressively expands into Asian, African and South American markets.

LinkedIn is liked most by older users

While it's no secret that LinkedIn is the platform preferred by professionals, it's also the most popular with older social media users.

Currently 14 per cent of LinkedIn users are in the 45 – 54 age range, while 7 per cent are aged over 55.

Pinterest is pumping

Photos are hot property on social right now. In fact, uploading photos is the most popular activity for social media users.

Over the past year Pinterest has seen an 88 per cent growth rate, a little ahead of Tumblr which racked up 74 per cent growth.

This makes Pinterest the fastest growing social platform on the web, ahead of more established players like Twitter and LinkedIn, which both have growth rates hovering around the 40 per cent mark.

Google+ is closing the gap on Facebook, sort of

While 70 per cent all social media users have a Facebook account, half are also now signed up to Google+. To this end, G+ now has the largest number of monthly visits at 1,203 million, ahead of Facebook on 809 million.

It's worth noting that opening a G+ account is now mandatory when creating a Gmail account, so the numbers are a bit skewed.

Yet with Google's considerable muscle boosting up G+ the platform is slowly but surely gaining traction. Whether users want it or not. 

To find out more visit globalwebindex.net.

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