I spent last week at the Online Market World Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. LOTS of info to swallow, but so enlightening and I wanted to touch on a few things that hit home. A few interested insights:
68% of Online Americans Visit Communities, Blogs, Social Networks...
According to the August/September 2008 Insight Report from MarketTools , 68% of Americans who spend time online regularly visit blogs, online communities or social networks. That's staggering, especially when you consider that the number of online Americans that engage in product research online to help them make purchase decisions is just 33%.
Look at the demographic breakouts. Only 68% access social and/or community sites and 33% are do research on products. So what do 100% of online Americans do on the Internet? General research? Email? Read the newspaper? A bit of a blunder…
Brian Solis and others talked about the important role blogging plays in getting people involved in social media. I got the impression that many of these so-called media gurus think blogs are the port of call for those who become interested in social media. I agree blogs fuel the online social world, but are they really the main "gateway drug" for other forms of social media? I'm curious to know whether this is the case or whether it's the perception of early social media adopters. It seemed to me (before hearing this insight) that our CURRENT generation of social media fans get their start with sites like Facebook and Twitter. Thoughts?
Oh, Twitter. Another thing I found interesting is how many people are OBSESSED Twittering . I looked around at this conference and every person was twittering away… made me feel miles behind. I have made a sorry effort to become a twitterer, and I’ve vowed to try harder!
1 comment:
I agree with you on this one. I don't think blogs are necessarily the main path for social media either. Like you mentioned, 68% access social and/or community sites. That's quite the majority! I agree most people from the current generation are getting started in the world of social media with Facebook and other related sites. It sounds like these "media gurus" are excited about their own blogs and want everybody else to join in on the good times. I don't doubt they have had success getting people involved in social media by means of blogging. But as far as this generation goes, they're better off starting a Facebook group.
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