Boys and Girls – Google+ vs Pinterest
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding Pinterest lately, probably because of the huge growth it has seen in the past few months. It seems to have replaced the buzz around Google+ from last year. These sites are different in a few ways, but what is interesting is the gender breakdown of the users on each site. The stats seem to indicate that Pinterest is for girls, while Google+ is for boys.
Is Pinterest really a girls only club? Of course, everyone is free to join, but according to the stats, 83% of users just happen to be women. Is this a coincidence? Probably not, since the site seems to be geared towards women. Even the description on the about page seems to be directed at women: “People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes and organize their favorite recipes.” That seems to be exactly what people are posting about. While there is a male presence on the site, it is definitely not as prominent.
So if the ladies are all over on Pinterest, where are the guys going? The answer might just be Google+. According to recent stats, 63% of Google+ users are males. Instead of posting about lifestyle things, Google+ users tend to be more focused on technology. This probably has a lot to do with its two biggest user groups being college students and software developers.
While this doesn’t dictate whether or not a brand should start using either of these sites, it does have a huge impact on content strategy. The huge difference in demographics means that brands will have to find creative ways to tweak the content on each network to allow them to better reach their target audience. For example, if you were a hardware store, Google+ might focus more on tools and building projects, while Pinterest would probably focus more on DIY design projects and décor ideas.
These trends on each platform will likely continue on, especially for Pinterest. While Google+ could benefit from expanding it’s user base to be more diverse, (since it could be used in so many more ways than Pinterest) Pinterest has already built up a huge following based on the kinds of content that users are currently posting, and therefore probably doesn’t need to worry about trying to attract men to the site. Do you agree? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.
