October 19, 2009
Social Networking and Micro-blogging: Is it “Hype” or is it “Here”?
Posted in Basic Information, Social Media, Social micro-blogs at 1:49 am by kathobson
Okay, so in the first post we covered the basics of social media…at least what I know so far (which ain’t much folks!). Then I threw you a ringer and talked about RSS feeds so you can subscribe to this blog and keep up with our journey. But we’re back on track now.
From our last meeting…(well, our first meeting really)
Facebook and Twitter are probably the most well-known examples of social media. They are social micro-blogs. And then there are full-fledged social blogs like this one. Digg is a social news site. YouTube is a social video site. Flickr is a social photosharing site. Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site.
Yeah. Exactly what I was thinking. What the heck does all that mean?!?
Well, stay tuned…
When we first met, we were tre’ confused about this social networking thingie! We had names of a lot of social media applications like Facebook and YouTube and Delicious that had a lot of labels like social networking, social video and social bookmarking.
And, rats, here we are…still in the land of What-The-Heck-Does-All-This-Mean?
But, I have a head start and maybe you do too. I have a Facebook account. I have a MySpace account. I have a Twitter account. I’ve seen a blue-million Youtube videos…they come into my email inbox everyday! And I just downloaded WordPress to start this blog.
I still use my Favorites in my web browser but I just saw a snippet of information about Del.icio.us, a social bookmarking site, that looks like it would save me from the six minute tour around my Favorites list every time I try to find something in that mess. That could save me, oh, around 2 hours and 57 minutes a day…
But what do I really understand about all of this?
I’m going to share some data from a video I found called The Social Media Revolution. I was astounded by the statistics. I think the most amazing thing is simply the impact that this thing labeled “social media” (that we didn’t even know had a name and that we don’t even realize we are participating in) is having in our lives, our relationships, our consumer habits and on our society as a whole. I think you will be too.
By 2010, Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers
96% of them have joined a social network (96%!!!)
Social media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
Years to reach 50 million users:
- Radio – 38 years
- TV – 13 years
- Internet – 4 years
- iPod – 3 years
- Facebook added 100 million (not 50 million) users in less than 9 months
If Facebook were a country….it would be the world’s 4th largest
- China
- India
- United States
- Indonesia
- Brazil
- Pakistan
- Bangladesh
Gen Y and Z consider email passe’
In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing email addresses to incoming freshmen
24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experience record declines in circulation
We no longer search for the news…the news finds us
In the future, we will no longer search for products and service
They will find us via social media.
Social media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.
Social networking is here, folks. You are using it now by reading this blog. If you leave a comment on this blog or read one someone else left, you are using social networking. If you use Facebook, Youtube, Flickr or Twitter, you are participating in social networking.
See…and you didn’t even know you are a part of a social revolution!
In the next post, I’ll cover more about two specific social networks…Facebook and Twitter. Both utilize micro-blogs…it’s that thing you call a Status Update. See…if you use either of those, or any of the other social networks (like MySpace, Classmates, Meetup, etc), you’re already blogging and you didn’t know it!
More Information…
Coming Next: Facebook? Twitter? What’s the Buzz?
The Social Revolution…the whole video from YouTube if you want to see it. Facinating…
(Yea! Look at Blogger Queen me! I inserted a video! Woo-hoo!)
