Atlanta No. 4 on Facebook and a plug
Where does the Atlanta area rank in the number of Facebook users? According to the latest report from iStrategyLabs, the area is now No. 4, behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. As of June 8, there were 2.937 million Facebook users in the Atlanta area. See the full chart here.
We wrote last year about Atlanta’s phenomenal growth in Facebook users, which moved the area up to second, only behind New York. Now Chicago is experiencing similar growth, closely behind L.A. at No. 3. Chicago’s Facebook users have almost doubled in five months.
iStrategyLabs has been tracking Facebook use since 2007, using data from Facebook’s social ads platform. The agency’s CEO, Peter Corbett, correctly points out that concerns over privacy have not had an impact upon Facebook’s growth, with the U.S. user base growing 21.8% between Jan. 4 and June 8.
Which age group had the highest growth rate? That would be those over 55.
A quick note about our webinar…
OK, I’m going to depart from normal practice here to plug an upcoming webinar in which I’ll be participating. I’m partnering with good friends Tim Morrison and Brownell Landrum on a series of classes devoted to helping writers perfect their craft, build websites for themselves and their books, and market themselves and their writing through social media. Tim is a writing coach and Brownell helps people set up websites using the power of the WordPress platform. And, naturally, I’m the social media coach.
We’re having a free, one-hour webinar next Tuesday, July 13, at 8 p.m Eastern. You can find out more about our classes — and us — at our website. And you can sign up here.
Success stories and an up-and-coming sensation
Let’s start off the week with some recent social media developments you might have missed:
– Since we often hear from people questioning social media’s value, we should mention five “surprise success stories” using Facebook and Twitter for business detailed by Rick Burnes of HubSpot His list includes an equine dentist, a manufacturer of prefabricated steel buildings, makers of specialized paint and paper and an aircraft maintenance and support company. And there are plenty more to come.
– It’s now possible to “follow” companies on LinkedIn. This new feature, quietly introduced in late April, enables users to keep up with companies, whether one is looking for a job, looking for b-to-b-opportunities or just wanting to follow business developments. It’s a primitive, one-way system compared to Twitter and Facebook, in which you can interact directly with a company. Nor can companies offer timely status updates. However, you can see the status updates of key employees as well as promotions and other company news, assuming employees and the company are updating their accounts..While LinkedIn has a lot of work ahead to keep pace with the major social networks, this is still significant step in the right direction.
–Are you a job seeker? Since we regularly work with a local jobs networking group to assist the unemployed, we thought we’d share 13 “essential tips” for finding a job using LinkedIn from author and former pro athlete Lewis Howes. Howes offers solid advice, particularly for those who are new to the business networking site. One follow-up comment: If you add your blog or Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile — as Howes correctly suggests you should do — make darn sure what you write on those places is professional. Otherwise, you’re asking for trouble.
– We know a lot of folks — of all ages— who don’t “get” Foursquare. Many of these same people also still remain openly skeptical of Twitter (We’re trying!) While the business potential of Foursquare has barely scratched the surface, consider this: Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley told Business Insider’s Henry Blodget last week that the service is adding 15,000 users a day. Not exactly Facebook numbers, but numbers that can’t be ignored.
The Facebook backlash: Let’s have some perspective
The Facebook backlash has gotten out of hand.
Yes, the social-networking giant deservedly has taken its lumps recently, with disclosures of the dizzying changes it made in its privacy settings. Many critics were justified in questioning why these changes weren’t opt-in features, instead of forcing users to educate themselves and choose to opt out. Facebook has its work cut out as it tempers what Matthew Ingram of GigaOm calls the “snowball effect” of all the bad publicity.
However, several online items today point to just how silly things have become in the assault on Facebook. Just a few:
–The IT research firm Sophos found in a survey, being circulated widely, that 60 percent of Facebook users were mulling shutting down their accounts.
–Web entrepreneur Jason Calacanis was publicly announcing that he was shutting down his Facebook page, joining some other high-profile tech luminaries.
–The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook had been sending data to advertisers that could be used to identify users and learn other personal details.
All this comes on the heels of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg coming under fire from disclosure of IMs from when he was a 19-year-old Harvard student. And reports about how the upcoming movie “The Social Network” depicts him as a “sex-crazed nerd.”
OK, let’s take a deep breath and take a closer look. First, IMs from a 19-year-old? Seriously? Even Tech Crunch’s Michael Arrington, who has raked Facebook over the coals on countless occasions, admitted this was going too far. And a 19-year-old as a “sex-crazed nerd”? Sound familiar? That description probably applies to 60 percent of male college students on this planet. (Disclosure: I’m sure I fell into that category, way back when.) Most of them grow up.
The survey? Sophos admits it was unscientific. How many times have you read surveys with people saying they’re thinking of doing something? How often are they overblown? A large number of people would truthfully say they’d like to quit their jobs. But are they going to do that? (Not in this economy)
With all respect to Mr. Calacanis, who I read often, I’m not sure his decision is going to sway too many outside the Web tech elite to close their accounts.
And Read Write Web’s Marshall Kirkpatrick — one of the Web’s best bloggers/reporters — quickly clarified WSJ’s report — the info being passed to advertisers was not all intentionally set up by Facebook; the way Web browsers are configured played a role in what URLs were passed to advertisers. And other sites face the same challenges in sharing data.
Yes, Facebook has a lot to answer for. Yes, they have made some big mistakes in trying to monetize its huge audience. They have infuriated me on many occasions. But let’s keep a healthy perspective and not fall to the overheated nature of the tech blogosphere.
And let’s get real. Facebook has more than 500 million users, does anyone honestly think 300 million of those users are about to leave?
Twitter Part 3: Of course it works
Note to self: When writing a three-part series, make sure you have time to finish it.
When starting a three-part series on Twitter several months ago I vowed to prove that Twitter isn’t fading, it’s not just noise and that it is, in fact, good not just for big businesses, but smaller companies as well.
What happened? A bunch of people suddenly asked me to help them use Twitter to meet their business goals. I am now working with businesses, non-profits and professional associations every day, coaching them or tweeting on their behalf and achieving objectives. While a few months isn’t nearly enough time to provide thorough case studies, I can report immediate results through Twitter. Such as:
– A group supporting environmental causes wanting to add new chapters asked me to launch a Twitter campaign less than three months ago. In the first week, they received a request for a media interview. They are now quoted regularly in national publications, building their brand awareness. A new chapter is about to form in a coveted area because tweets about the group caught the interest of a Twitter follower there. More chapters are on the horizon — thanks to Twitter and the dedicated followers it can generate.
– A writing coach hoping to expand his business is now connected to a large number of young, inexperienced writers and is now connecting to his ideal client — executives of large companies interested in writing books.
– A start-up that is licensed to sell a safety product in Georgia wants to expand its market. In just two weeks, response to the company has been remarkable.
It’s too early to document the details and name these groups/companies, but that day will come soon enough. These clients — and others — are already convinced of the power of Twitter to target those they most want to reach. More important, they have learned that the road to success is through building relationships and sharing valuable information with their followers.
That’s a sound business strategy anywhere and Twitter is just the tool to help them make that happen.
Twitter Part 2: It’s not peaking, it’s maturing
In between last week’s incessant reporting about Apple’s iPad came news that Twitter’s growth has become flat. CNN went so far as to ask: Has Twitter peaked?
Compete and comScore, Web analytics firms, both released figures showing a drop in average monthly Twitter visitors from July to December 2009. Imagine that? Fewer people used Twitter during December — a month with two big holidays (and plenty of days of downtime and travel surrounding them). Does that really surprise anyone?
Also, anyone who seriously follows Twitter knows that tracking site visitors requires going down the rabbit hole of all the third-party apps — from desktop to cellphone — that people use to connect with Twitter. Many critics question the reliability of numbers related to Twitter’s traffic because of the numerous ways to tweet without ever visiting the site.
When I read the word “peak,” I normally think a decline is around the corner. Curiously, some less prominent numbers in CNN’s article don’t suggest that at all. Web analysts HubSpot find average Twitter users now:
• Have more followers: From 70 in July to 300.
• Follow more feeds: From 45 in July to 170.
• Tweet more: From 120 tweets in July to 420.
HubSpot also found that Twitter is becoming more international. The U.S. represented under 51% of Twitter users in December, down from 61% in June. That number rings true personally as more and more overseas social media and marketing people are connecting with me.
So, let’s see, Twitter users are more engaged than ever. And people around the world are joining every day. Not exactly a “peaking” scenario, is it? Maybe Twitter is, gasp, maturing.
OK, business folks, you now know Twitter is neither a) all noise nor b) peaking. Next, we’ll show you how it can benefit your business, no matter the size.
