This compares with just 23% via public social networks. When considering dark social sharing across all devices, smartphones account for 64% of the time people click on a link shared in dark social. 

The research paper, The dark side of mobile sharing, from marketing technology specialists RadiumOne, highlights some issues around marketing investment: while RadiumOne’s figures show that 84% of sharing globally happens outside of public social networks, 90% of social and sharing marketing investment is going to public social networks (according to eMarketer figures). 

“One of the reasons for this investment disconnect is that until recently, marketers haven’t known how to harness dark social sharing behaviour," said RadiumOne European managing director, Rupert Staines. "The many channels and platforms consumers use to share the things that matter to them, and the behaviour around this, is evolving by the day.

"It’s becoming increasingly complex and harder for brands to keep up with the fast pace of consumers. However, brands can harness sharing technology to allow them to take a channel and platform agnostic approach to keeping up with consumers.”