GigaOM is reporting that the new leaders in browsing and Web apps are Firefox, Facebook, and Twitter. This data comes from site usage tracker Wakoopa, an Amsterdam-based company whose numbers many will say are skewed due to the way they’re gathered.
While this might be true, the main numbers–for browsers and major sites–are close to what other well-known statistics munchers like W3Schools are reporting. While Wakoopa’s numbers are probably tilted more towards geekdom, the average Internet user is not too far behind in terms of what browser they prefer and what sites they tend to visit.
Here are the Web apps in rank, according to Wakoopa’s latest release:
The numbers are fairly close to what you’ll see at other Web stat generators, although the split between Firefox and IE is nearly 50/50 amongst average Internet users worldwide. The Opera numbers are interesting, though they are primarily European users, it turns out. No matter who you ask, Facebook, Gmail, and Google are the top dogs site-wise.
Twitter and some of the apps built to support it, like Tweetdeck and Twhirl, are gaining ground amongst users too. According to Wakoopa, the Mac app Destroy Twitter is most popular on that platform. For Web browsing, Firefox and Internet Explorer still rule the roost in their classic rivalry, but upstart Google Chrome is making headway while Opera has a core crowd of dedicated users.
Wakoopa’s report also shows that those under 30 are having issues with trust when it comes to trusting “old-school” apps like IE, preferring alternatives instead.
Overall, the data from Wakoopa is interesting, though someone slanted. Most interesting to note is the slow movement away from traditional browsers into newer alternatives and the fact that one of the top sites on the Web is now a social networking site rather than a search engine.
Pretty soon, the leading language will be 1337 instead of English, if this trend keeps up.
