Bitly Blog
The popular link-shortening service Bitly released some data about how long people engage with its links after they are first shared on social networks. The company’s “science team” calculated the average “half life” of links — the time in which the link receives half of the clicks it ever will. Twitter was the most fleeting, with an average half-life of 2.8 hours, followed by Facebook at 3.2 hours and direct sharing (email, IM) at 3.4 hours.
Bitly notes, however, that times can vary widely. “Many links last a lot less than 2 hours; other more sticky links last longer than 11 hours over all the referrers.” So what you share may be more important than where you share it.
