Twitter and Pinterest Lead Mobile Sharing Growth as Desktop Declines

Mobile shares have outpaced shares on desktop, with Twitter and Pinterest leading the way, according to ShareThis’ Q2 2014 Consumer Sharing Trends Report.

The report shows that during the second quarter of 2014, the combined shares from smartphones and tablets jumped approximately 31 percent from the previous quarter, while shares on desktop decreased by nearly 6 percent.

And sharing via email, which plunged in the first quarter of 2014, continued to decline this quarter.

The growth on mobile was driven heavily by Twitter and Pinterest, with 75 percent of shares coming from these two platforms, according to the report. In comparison, although Facebook still dominates overall sharing activity, only half of its shares were mobile in Q2.

“Pinterest’s user base has been growing overall. And they launched a new feature this quarter, Guided Search, which is exclusive to mobile,” Kurt Abrahamson, chief executive (CEO) of ShareThis, tells ClickZ.

Additionally, he says, Twitter’s new mobile features for photos and photo tagging, as well as photo collages and GIFs have also contributed to the increase in mobile shares.

Interestingly, the report reveals that mobile consumers use different social media channels on different devices for different purposes. For example, Pinterest users are more active on tablets, while Twitter fans seem to prefer smartphones. In addition, Pinners like talking about shopping, Twitter users tend to tweet business- and sports-related subjects, and Facebook sharers are most interested in politics and parenting.

“Twitter is a huge platform for sports, and there has been a tremendous amount of activity surrounding the World Cup since early June,” says Abrahamson, commenting on the findings.

ShareThis also analyzed who was doing all this sharing. Although Millennials are often considered to be heavy mobile users, during 2014’s Q2 they didn’t share as much as users over the age of 55, whose tablet shares nearly doubled from the quarter prior.

Meanwhile, most likely thanks to widespread smartphone adoption, social engagement on mobile devices increased 13 percent among African-Americans, compared to 6 percent among Hispanics.

So how can marketers take advantage of these findings? First and foremost, go mobile! But just creating mobile content isn’t enough – marketers should diversify their channels, align their content across platforms, and take the time to learn about their audience.

To see the full report, request a copy from ShareThis.