If you've ever sent a link or copy and pasted text content in a private email or message – then you have a 'dark social' network. Chances are, this is also your real life "intimate" social network of close friends, family and colleagues and you share content with them that's particularly relevant and interesting to you. It's quite different to the content you might post publically on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn. The content and the people you share it with are selected for a very specific reason.
Yet, when marketers and publishers think about how people share content today, their focus is still on the "in the light" social networks....
Dark social came before FB, Twitter, and Other social media platforms and represents truly private networks. While there will never be tools for directly tracking this sort of behaviour, any form of tracking will yield valuable insights!