Dark social

Sharing that happens in private channels, such as DMs, WhatsApp, email and texts, where analytics can't see where the visit came from.

When someone copies a link and sends it to a friend on WhatsApp, the friend's visit usually shows up as "direct" traffic, with no trace of the post that started it. A large share of real sharing happens this way.

You can see some of it: Instagram and TikTok count "shares" and "sends" in their analytics, and UTM-tagged links survive being pasted. Content people want to send to one specific friend, such as a relatable meme or a useful tip, travels furthest in dark social.

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