In a world, where there are 2.7 billion internet users, it is not easy to get your content seen, read and shared easily.

While few create great content and get recognition, others get lost and keep trying.

Those who create great content tend to ignore why people share their content. That’s because it is puzzling. Yes, we don’t know why people share the content. Is it because of the content,  the photo,  the links in the post, or stats involved? People share on Facebook, re-tweet, recommend or press the content because they want to. They like it and think that the content deserves recognition and is contextually relevant.

Motivations for sharing

Many studies don’t really reveal the motivations behind content sharing but a study by New York Times shows,

  • 49% say sharing allows them to inform others of products they care about and potentially change opinions or encourage action.
  • 94% carefully consider how the information they share will be useful to the recipient.
  • 68% share to give people a better sense of who they are and what they care about.
  • 73% share information because it helps them connect with others who share their interests.
  • 78% share information online because it lets them stay connected to people they may not otherwise stay in touch with.
  • 69% share information because it allows them to feel more involved in the world
  • 84% share because it is a way to support causes or issues they care about.

Thus content sharing is bringing value and entertaining content to others, to define ourselves to others, to grow and nourish our relationships, self-fulfillment and to get the word about causes or brands.

What is the most popular content shared on Social Media?

According a report on Ipsos, a survey indicated that a significant proportion of internet users share pictures on social media. A breakdown on the most popular content shared on Social Media sites is shown in the chart.

sharedcontent
 
As we observe in this report social media  has been turning visual in nature and photography has become the center of attraction of social media engagement (43%). Thus people are liking more a visual content than any other content as it is easy to understand, which means the written content is dying??

Well some of the stats below could indicate the importance of visual content in Social Media:

  • Among the top 10 activities on Facebook for Q2 2013, uploading and sharing photos has been the top activity on desktop, mobile and tablet (Jeffbullas.com)
  • Among the top 10 activities on Twitter for Q2 2013, uploading and sharing photos has been the second top activity on desktop, mobile and tablet (Jeffbullas.com)
  • Among the top 10 activities on Google Plus for Q2 2013, uploading and sharing photos has been the top activity on desktop, mobile and tablet (Jeffbullas.com)
  • Pinterest, a visual medium, is the fastest growing social media network which grew 88 per cent year-on-year (Computer World)
  • Publishers who use infographics as their marketing weapon can increase their traffic by 12%. (Infographic B2B)
  • 40% of people will respond better to visual information than plain text. (Zabisco)