We’ve talked about it in general terms. Now lets get specific. And statistic.

Facebook
With 66 million+ users and rankings at the very tip top of the “minutes spent on site” charts, Facebook is perhaps the 800-pound gorilla. Some facts about Facebook:

• Year-over-year growth = 699%
• Users tend to be a little older than MySpace users, hitting an average of 25-34

MySpace
The only one of the social giants that is currently shrinking, MySpace tends to attract a young crowd and the music scene. The big benefit of MySpace comes in if your audience is on the young side and if you are using video. MySpace ranks at #1 when ranked by video streams.

Twitter
Sending out messages in 140 characters or less, Twitter may just be the 801-pound gorilla ready to take on Facebook. Some fantastic stats on Twitter:

• Growth year-over-year is a massive 3712%

LinkedIn
Ranked 8th for total minutes spent on the site and with a growth year-over-year of 69%, LinkedIn is a business and networking focused version of social media.

Now, even with statistics that say these guys are leaders, the one thing that doesn’t change about online marketing is that it’s always changing. A couple years ago MySpace was the giant. And a couple years from now there may be new, different and exciting ways to join the conversation. The point, no matter who the leaders are, is to join the conversation.

Be creative. Like Metro Denver, who tweets multiple times daily and always stays relevant. Or Omaha’s tourism tweeters–VisitOmaha–who talk about all the events, openings and fun stuff in Omaha, Nebraska.

And pave the way. Because lots of economic developers, cities, tourism departments and chambers aren’t in on this yet.

Where did I get these stats? Here.