Bit.ly, the URL shortener service, recently surveyed links shared on social networks to determine the “life span” of links. As it turns out links shared on Twitter lasted only half as long as links shared on YouTube.
How did the researchers measure the longevity of (shortened) links? They looked at their half-lives — “the amount of time at which this link will receive half of the clicks it will ever receive after it’s reached its peak.” Auditing 1,000 popular bit.ly links, they found links posted on Twitter have the shortest half-life of any social network at 2.8 hours; Facebook links clock in at 3.2 hours and YouTube links sustain at 7.4 hours.
Hilary Mason, chief scientist at bit.ly, noted “Many links last a lot less than 2 hours; other more sticky links last longer than 11 hours over all the referrers. This leads us to believe that the lifespan of your link is connected more to what content it points to than on where you post it.”
While links might get a slight edge when posted on Facebook versus Twitter, it is the (perceived) quality of the content that has the greatest effect on how long it will stay in rotation. And if what you share is likely more important than where you share it how will that effect your next social media initiative and how best can you posit and place your links?
Here’s bit.ly’s Hilary Mason at Strata 2011, speaking on ” What Data Tells Us.”