We’ve updated our 2012 chart and data depicting the gender balance of various social networks.

Analysis

Some findings, compared with the 2012 version of the graphic.

 » Large, key networks Pinterest, Snapchat and Tumblr continue to draw a higher female audience.

 » Most matriarchies remain matriarchies, bar Facebook (previously 58% female) now equalised to gender balance.

 » Previously male-dominated sites Last.fm, YouTube, Stumbleupon, DeviantArt have become more equalised.

 » But only Flickr of the previous patriarchies has flipped to a more matriarchal balance.

 » More tech-cultured oriented networks Reddit & Google+ have become less male dominated. Google+ now 57% men vs 64% in 2012. Reddit now 60% men vs 74% in 2012.

 » And sadly we must bid goodbye to demised networks : Orkut, Bebo, and Friendfeed. Rest in peace.

Explore the data for yourself : bit.ly/KIB_SocialWeb

Methodology

The main eye-opener for us was the difficulty in finding reliable monthly user figures for most social sites.

Estimates varied wildly, with many sites and reports mixing up and interchanging “monthly unique users” with “registered users” with “monthly active users”. These are our best, refined estimates, using based on 2-3 sources. Take the numbers with a pinch, especially small sites claiming big audiences. If you’re interested, we’re currently working on an international version, covering Chinese, Japanese and other non-English networks. The data is incomplete but it’s already looking interesting.

More ?

We twin this graphic with Diversity in Tech – our visualisation of the current employee breakdown of various tech companies.

Taken from the forthcoming infographic mega-tome, Knowledge is Beautiful. Find out more.