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Explained: What is 'Dark Social' and why it matters
What makes dark social so tricky for marketers is that it’s nearly impossible to attribute accurately.
Platforms like Google Analytics often lump this traffic under “direct,” when in reality, it may have come from a private Slack message, a group chat, or even a podcast mention.
Dark social refers to the kind of online sharing that happens privately — through messaging apps, emails, text messages, private groups, or even word of mouth — and is largely invisible to traditional analytics tools. The term was coined in 2012 by Alexis Madrigal of The Atlantic, who realized that a significant chunk of referral traffic was being misattributed as “direct” because the actual sources couldn’t be tracked.
For example, if you send a New York Times article to a friend via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, that’s dark social in action. Despite being an old concept, dark social has gained renewed attention, especially among B2B marketers, as consumer behavior continues to shift toward private and encrypted channels.
What makes dark social so tricky for marketers is that it’s nearly impossible to attribute accurately. Platforms like Google Analytics often lump this traffic under “direct,” when in reality, it may have come from a private Slack message, a group chat, or even a podcast mention.
In fact, a report by RhythmOne estimated that as much as 84% of all content shares happen through dark social channels. A more recent experiment by analytics expert Steve Lamar showed that in 2024, 100% of traffic from private messaging apps like Slack, Discord, and WhatsApp went untracked, along with most clicks from TikTok profiles and significant portions from Instagram and LinkedIn.
This hidden sharing ecosystem is increasingly important because it’s where real conversations and recommendations are happening. Buyers, especially in B2B, are no longer discovering products solely through ads or public posts — they’re hearing about them from peers in closed communities, during virtual events, or on private DMs.
In a world where decisions are influenced by networks and trust, dark social is where much of the action takes place.
Marketers can’t fully measure dark social, but ignoring it is no longer an option. Instead, brands are learning to participate in these hidden spaces — creating content that sparks conversation, building communities, and encouraging sharing even if it can't always be quantified. While attribution remains a challenge, understanding dark social helps marketers adapt to the reality of how people now communicate, connect, and make buying decisions.
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