Is Social Media in Decline?
Lately, there has been a counter-buzz about social media suggesting that we are seeing a decline in usage amongst Canadians, so we put our Raving Rabbids research hats on, played some video games, and (after putting our wii-motes down, & doing some real research) came up with some solid information. Essentially what we confirmed was that the face of social media is evolving, not necessarily declining. In January of 2010 almost all Canadian online teens (85%) had a Facebook account, so what we are seeing now is some stabilization and seasonal habit changes. ComScore shows that in January that youth (aged 2-17) logged 49 monthly Facebook visits per user, spending a monthly total of 8:15 hours chatting and updating their status. These numbers in June are lower at 39 monthly visits at 6.5 hours total, though during the same period for the same demographic total internet use has also declined from 80 visits a month to 63, so the Facebook decline mirrors overall internet use. This reduction may be a decay in interest in Facebook, although it also could be a seasonal trend which will change again once the blustery weather of fall and winter hits. I know I’ve been spending more time on the patio than I have playing Farmville lately. That brings me to the next point. Now that the teens have been on Facebook for a few years, the demographic that is seeing the most growth is the females aged 50+. They are finding old classmates and keeping informed of what their kids are up to. More and more studies are starting to pop up showing Moms as key brand influencers via social networks. I know many people who are taking a look at how they use Facebook, and some are deciding that they would prefer it to be used more as a social tool, to coordinate events etc rather than a way to interact with their best buds.
Twitter is another one of the more commonly used social media tools. While there are many who question the usefulness and popularity of Twitter, ComScore put out a press release today indicating that Twitter is still going strong and continuing to garner new users monthly. In June of 2010 nearly 93 million people worldwide visited Twitter.com, which is an increase of 109 percent over last year. Indonesia is reporting the highest reach (of 20.8%) with Brazil and Venezuela following closely behind at 20.5% and 19% respectively. To put that into perspective, Canada is currently sitting at 13.5%. North America, where Twitter has reached a higher maturity level than other regions, saw a growth of 22 percent to nearly 25 million visitors in June. These numbers are sourced from Twitter.com and don’t take into account the vast majority of proficient Twitter users who are logging in through tools such as Tweet Dec and Hoot Suite. I suspect that if we were to add those tools to the Canada and US reach numbers, then North America would probably have a higher reach than anywhere else in the world.
To give you a 2009 historical perception of Twitter & social media, check out Alexander’s & Kathryn’s blog posts from February of last year.
Facebook statistics by demographic
Facebook Growth showing seasonal dips but consistent growth
After researching the decline in social media, I’ve come to the conclusion that we are simply seeing a shift in the way that people interact with social media, as opposed to an actual decline. It’s only natural after the sharp adaption rates we have been monitoring and experiencing for the past 2 years. Now that we’ve reached a higher maturity (or familiarity) level using tools such as Facebook and Twitter, we have integrated them into our daily routines, rather than them being an interruption worth shouting about. As with any new trend, what we are seeing is the leveling out of usage and those who continue to consume social media at the highest quintile are likely to continue to be influencers worth following.
As more and more 3rd party programs and services leverage the social APIs, more and more people are mindlessly populating social sites via “like this” or “follow me” buttons on external sites which is certainly not being measured by the above stats. It’s becoming easier and easier for people to stay connected to social networks without being tethered to a single portal site. That is certainly what has happened with the way that I am keeping up my various social media accounts. Have your habits changed over time? What do you personally get out of Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc?
This research was inspired by several of our clients forwarding us this eMarketer article and asking our opinion on the subject. http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007808
I know that my social habits have changed a lot in the past few years. It’s a bit sick to think of how long ago 2 years was in terms of web-land and how much has changed. I’ve been personally using Twitter for 2 years & 7 months (http://howlonghaveyoubeentweeting.com/) and professionally for 1 year and 6 months. I remember my husband scoffing at my using twitter and thinking it was a short term internet phenomenon. 2 months later, he was using it heavily and his friends were mocking him for getting on the bandwagon.
I rarely used Facebook at the start because I have had both a professional and personal blog for years and the concept of social sharing was not new for me. While I appreciated the ability to ‘connect’ with people, I saw the pitfalls in an easy-to-use (ie: everyone at any skill level can use it) social system having fallen victim to TMI sharing (too much information) syndrome in my early blogging days. Only, I had even less control over this system and limited ability to keep personal separated from private. As the system has grown up, users have found more and more flexibility with their privacy settings and people are learning that to un-friend is remain sane.
Twitter is such an important part of my social interaction these days. I follow the people that I want to listen to and it’s restricted to 140 characters. I can choose to go deeper and click on links if I want more, or I can simply be aware that they have been posted. It gives me more control of how I interact with my social-peeps and how much I see.