Infographic: Thanks for Sharing

Here's an interesting infographic on the state of online sharing in 2011 produced by the folks at Clearspring, makers of the social sharing platform AddThis. With the AddThis platform installed on more than 11 million domains and reaching over 1.2 billion users, the data below show some compelling insights on how we shared content across the web this year.

So What?
Here are two marketing insights to consider from the infographic above as we approach the beginning of a new year:

1. People share where their network is
With its 800 million+ user base it's no surprise that Facebook dominates the realm of online sharing, raking up over half of all sharing done on the web. Sure, Twitter and Tumblr have remarkable growth rates, but that's more likely because they had smaller bases to begin with. Not until a social networking site gains the user base comparable to Facebook, will it be able to match Facebook's scale of sharing. That's not to say that shares on networks other than Facebook are any less valuable. But if you want to get your word out to the most number of people, you'll have to send that message out to the most populated sites.

2. People share on the go
The rapid growth of smartphone and tablet adoption is redefining how people consume information. This in turn has implications on the most effective means for disseminating information. On an increasing number of occasions, people will likely turn to their mobile devices first to seek out information and they will feel the need to instantaneously share that information. When they do, you will have to be ready to provide that information and make the sharing process as convenient as possible.