Spot the mistake in these LinkedIn numbers

Mistake – The number of Active LinkedIn users is more than the Monthly Active users

Source: Omnicore Agency

The total number of Active Linkedln users is 787 million while the monthly active users are only 330 million. I would have expected the number of Active Linkedln users to add up to 330 million or less. That’s when I re-read the statement and found the difference.

One is active users while the other is monthly active users. While the stats may not be wrong, I wondered how they define active users.

Monthly Active users are pretty straightforward. I would assume that these users visited Linkedln at least once a month. I use the word visited instead of login because members are always logged in on the mobile app. Therefore, the number of logins may not be a valid number. The number of times a member visited Linkedln would be slightly more appropriate because it indicated that the members open the app and browse through the posts, either through mobile or website.

But what about active users?

Is it defined as one who visits LinkedIn once a quarter, half a year or a year? The definition matters to me because it determines how many users our posts or ads would reach.

As a marketer, I would love to know how many users visited Linkedln every day or once a week. This will determine if I should be running my ads for more than a week and how many I would be able to reach in one month. That affects the marketing budget.