How men temporarily took over Facebook (in a bad #infographic)



Contributing Writer
Photo: Worried Man Against White Background Credit: Ramzi Hashisho


I was reading a blog post today that displayed an infographic comparing Google+ to Facebook, and it struck me a bit odd how favorably the two were compared.  After all Google Plus is a bit of a niche network.  Predominantly male, muddy (actually non-existent) definition of “active users”, with the average user purportedly spending three minutes per month on the network.  Compared to Facebook who has an active user count of 901 million, each spending an average of 24 minutes per visit, and predominantly female….. or is it?

The infographic (embedded below) actually states that 57% of Facebook users are MALE, which is completely, utterly, shockingly false.  (substantiated by Alexa and every other study I’ve ever read).

I wrote a post for Waxing Unlyrical recently discussing our propensity to believe infographics without questioning their data.   Yet, in the case I mention on WUL, the data was actually true.  Besides the gender error on this infographic, there are numerous apples to oranges comparisons with the intention of misrepresenting the size and scope of Google Plus (they also say that Google doesn’t have a mechanism for advertising, which while somewhat true ignores a little program they call AdWords).   So where did they get this data?  We don’t know.  Even in the highest resolution of the infographic the references are blurred (though one of the informing sources is another infographic).

I understand the reasons to promote Google Plus (I’ve said previously that I believe they will be the #2 social network in the not so distant future), but rather than creating an infographic from suspect data they could have put this Google Plus exchange into a graphic.  After reading it, who wouldn’t want to be a part of social network that boasts the (now legendary) social star Emmy Ellison?

The lesson here is that there are some people distributing unreliable (and completely untrue) information out there.  Despite how nicely it comes packaged, it’s always a good idea to look at where it comes from.

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Google+ vs. Facebook: A Guide to Your Brand Page Strategy - Pardot Infographic

Embedded from the Pardot Blog

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

Writer and chief of miscellany at leaderswest.com

I aspire to give people something to think about rather than tell them what to do. My favorite Google Alert is “social media research,” I am increasingly compelled by Gen Z, and I appreciate good writers agnostic of where they write. At one time I was Kred’s 12th most influential social media blogger and Klout’s most influential person on the topic of David Hasselhoff. Transplant from Seattle living in Cincinnati. Haven’t entirely adopted the local sports teams yet.

Jim Dougherty

@jimdougherty

Jim Dougherty

Jim Dougherty

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  • http://diyblogger.net Dino Dogan (@dino_dogan)

    hey Jim…I’d love to reblog this post and I would love it if you enabled triberr comment system so we can see same comments on both our blogs.

    Is that out of the question? Or maybe there was a config issue with it? If latter, I can totally help you with it :-)

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Wow Dino, that’s very kind. I just enabled the Triberr comment system. Let me know if you need anything else. Thank you!

  • http://www.conversioncues.com Dewane Mutunga

    Jim,

    I’m a big fan of infographics. This one was very insightful. Since we’re talking Google + vs. Facebook, I must say that while it doesn’t have the same audience, I do enjoy Google + more. Facebook is becoming old & tired.

    Thanks for sharing this great post!

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Thanks Dewane – appreciate your insight and than you for reading and commenting!

  • susanborst

    Jim, Excellent point about not taking everything you read at face value! Your blog has really taken off…great stuff, congratulations~

  • http://leaderswest.com Jim Dougherty

    Thanks so much Susan for reading and commenting! I’m really starting to abhor infographics – they’re like Gremlins with how cute and cuddly they look, but some of them have bad intentions! Thanks for your kind words!

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