Some Trends in Social Media Use And How We Can Use Them To Communicate Better

Here are some trends and my thoughts on them...let me know what you think.

1. Blogs are not a primary social media outreach tool for “regular people”

* Only about 1 out of 5 Americans (22%) read blogs “several times a month or more”
* More than half of Americans “never” read blogs that discuss “politics” and only 23% do so “several times a year”

2. When people want to buy something (in a government context – obtain a service), they go to the website first and face-to-face second (official representative of company, or not) – so all channels of communication matter

* 36% - website
* 22% - face to face with company representative/salesperson
* 21% - face to face with someone not representing the company
* 19% - print advertising
* 19% - independent website with reviews
* 16% - phone call to company
* 4% - social networking site

3. News is social

* 72% of Americans follow the news as a source of conversation
* 50% rely to some extent on “people around them” to tell them news “they need to know”
* 37% of internet users have “contributed to the creation of news, commented…or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter”

4. Social media is pervasive, even addictive

* 1 in 3 Americans use social media regularly - 110 million people, or 36%
* 24% of employees use social media at work today, up from 19% in 2008
* Social media users are getting older – median age of Facebook users is 33; Twitter, 31; LinkedIn, 39
* Primary uses of social media include “fun” and connecting with “family and friends”; career networking is a distant second

5. Facebook is the most important social network in the country; MySpace and LinkedIn are underleveraged government communications tools

* 75% say Facebook is their most valuable network; 65% say MySpace; 30% LinkedIn; 12% Twitter
* 19% of Internet users now use Twitter, up from 11% a year ago (this from is a different study than the one above)
* 34% of women age 18-34 check Facebook first thing when they wake up in the morning - even before they brush their teeth

LINKS TO THIS RESEARCH

1. Social media use
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/110196 linking to http://www.andersonanalytics.com/
http://trendmicro.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&news_item=822&am...

2. Information-gathering habits
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Rese...

3. Facebook use
http://mashable.com/2010/07/07/oxygen-facebook-study/

4. Blog use
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Rese...

5. Twitter use
http://www.digitalpulp.com/blog/2010/01/27/how-many-people-really-u...

6. News is social
http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/understanding_participato...
http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/understanding_participato...