the wsj contends that comscore's numbers put instagram ahead of twitter in the race for advertisers' dollars:
Here’s why the “daily user” metric matters: It’s a measurement of how many users (roughly) check the app every single day. That’s important for selling advertisements, because the more engaged a user is, the more likely they are to click on an ad.
Basically, better engagement typically leads to better monetization.
congrats to instagram on their impressive adoption growth. however, I question the implication that this means instagram is further along the road to monetization. the article actually throws up a red flag in stating the TOTAL number of twitter users is much higher due to desktop users and acknowledging that instagram is only on mobile. but the point is just left hanging. left in the editing room was the conclusion that if only 60% of twitter use is on mobile, the total count should be nearly 70% higher!
the other question relates to the nature of engagement on the two services. the findings show that instagram beat twitter out in the average amount of time spent using the app. first, I would eliminate the minority obsessive users of each by looking at median time. then, I would want to see the median time spent on each app per visit. - I use instagram mostly to check in and rarely browse others' pics. I would suggest that twitter has a much better shot at driving actual conversion for advertisers since the ads will be integrated in the use process (reading streams, participation in conversations) rather than an interruption of the use process.