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.
Age no excuse for business to avoid social media
When I talk with small-business people, many who are skeptical of social media — particularly Baby Boomers — often talk about how social sites are just meant for the young. And some say they think spending a lot of time online is unhealthy and antisocial.
I try to show them that people of all ages are adopters of social media. Facebook alone has had dramatic growth this year at nearly all age levels, none more pronounced than women over 50.
Now there are new numbers available on social media users. The median age of a Facebook user has now risen to 33, seven years older than in May 2008. That’s not far behind LinkedIn, the business networking site whose 50 million-plus users have a median age of 39. The median age of a Twitter user has dropped to 31, which shows that Generation Y, which was not an early adopter, is now turning to the microblogging service. There had been numerous articles earlier in the year that Gen Y thought Twitter was pointless. Apparently, that’s changing.
Facebook getting older? Twitter getting younger? What does this mean? It means the old adage is no longer true that only the young are the early adopters of technology. And new social sites designed to attract the young away from Facebook and Twitter are reportedly not having an impact. The young are willing to use the same social media now used by their parents.
So much for age creating a digital divide in social media. (Yes, MySpace remains decidedly young — a median age of 26 — but its focus has shifted to mostly music and entertainment. And it’s certainly not the dominant influence it once was.)
While we’re debunking myths, let’s burst another bubble. Remember the study which found people were becoming more socially isolated because of technology, especially mobile phones and the Internet? Not so fast, according to a new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew found that these technologies do not have a harmful social impact upon people.
In fact, Pew found social networking sites provide an outlet for “discussion networks that are more likely to contain people from different backgrounds.” In other words, people have digital contact with a more diverse group of people.
Boomer business owners, isn’t that one of your company goals? Don’t you want to expand your reach to new people, new contacts outside your regular sphere?
Can’t wait for the next business owner to bring up age, or dismiss the merits of social networking. I’ve got some new research to share.
Are LinkedIn Groups relevant any more?
One thing many social media consultants will tell clients is that LinkedIn Groups are important for business people to establish themselves as thought leaders or experts in their business. For starters, they’ll say: Get on LinkedIn, join a Group and start a discussion topic. They’ll show you the little trick where you write a question and than add “Comment here or join the discussion on my blog …”
There was a time when that tactic might have driven significant traffic to your Web site. Or posing a question might have actually led to a good discussion.
There may be some Groups on LinkedIn where quality discussion takes place. However, those places are few and far between. Many people tell me they no longer open e-mails from the Groups. I’m about to join them.
What’s happened? LinkedIn Groups have mostly been hijacked by self-promoters whose idea of “discussion” is to endlessly promote their “free” seminars, blogs, products and themselves. My interest, naturally, has been social media, but there is very little “discussion” in those groups. There are plenty of people, though, who want to “help” me with their pitches, which they have the gall to present as discussion.
This morning, I received an e-mail from someone obviously involved in setting up a Group, inviting me to their “free” teleseminar. The e-mail subject line said it was an “announcement” from the Group. They said to hurry, seats are filling up fast. Impressive, since just recently this same individual was spamming me with another free session, and the seats were going quickly. I have serious ethical issues with an e-mail coming from a Group with an individual using the Group name to tout his business. Where is LinkedIn on this?
Another problem with LinkedIn Groups is that it’s hard to find true discussions that are all that informative. I can only speak for social media topics, but I can tell you most of the talk there is behind the curve. I find much more valuable — and current — information on Twitter or elsewhere. Yes, there are tons of spammers on Twitter, but I have the flexibility to unfollow or block users if need be.
Sorry, LinkedIn, no disrespect. I still think there is great potential for businesses in using the social networking site to grow connections and get introductions. They’ve established clear guidelines in that section of LinkedIn and crack down on people who violate the rules. (I also still think the Advanced Search feature is a goldmine of business intelligence.) However, I can no longer recommend that business people join Groups unless their business is a rare case where the self-promoters haven’t already poisoned the atmosphere.
Small businesses and professionals, what do you think? Are LinkedIn Groups relevant any more? Do any help you in your business?
Latest studies: Social, video the growth areas
OK, class, it’s time to review the latest studies, which seem to give us a pretty clear picture of the online world.
1. Internet usage is peaking.
2. Social networking sites are on the rise while social sites with a single focus, like Flickr or Blogger, are not (except YouTube).
3. The blogging audience is peaking.
4. Video watching and sharing continue to grow, especially among young adults.
These are some of the findings from reports this week by Forrester Research, Universal McCann and the Pew Internet and American Life Project. What they tell us is that our media habits have somewhat stabilized. While Internet usage doubled in the past five years, TV viewing habits haven’t really changed, according to Forrester. People still spend more time watching TV than online. Radio, newspapers and magazines have been the victims of Internet growth.
So what does this mean for small businesses and professionals? They’d better be thinking about Nos. 2 and 4 and what strategies they can use for these worlds. Social networks and video-sharing sites are the hot zones.
It also confirms my experience. The best way to draw people to your blog or company Web site is through social media. Otherwise, people won’t come looking for you.
Many social media skeptics will come around
I sat in on an Atlanta meeting recently while a presenter explained the merits of LinkedIn to a company.
The audience, mostly young and very smart, asked great questions. Several attendees hung around afterwards and asked even more questions. Someone pointed out that an employee had walked out after eating and avoided the talk. Someone else quickly added, “That’s all right. He’ll never use it [LinkedIn] anyway.”
Another professional showed similar skepticism during a talk I gave. He didn’t leave the room, but he was openly dismissive of social media. And I guess he dismissed me as well when he asked “You actually make money off this?”
Anderson Analytics’ recent research found three groups of people least likely to embrace social media — the time-starved (although Anderson says nearly half of that group will be using social media by year’s end), those concerned about computer security and, finally, Group 3, those who think social media are stupid. The research found 94% of this group will never use social media.
Both skeptics I’ve mentioned undoubtedly fall into Group 3. So there’s a 6% chance their minds can be changed. How do you reach those whose minds are made up?
First, I’ve seen too many people change their mind in the past year. In the Atlanta area, the statistics prove it. Those over 25 and even over 55 are flocking to social media, especially Facebook. We’ve previously written about that phenomenal growth, pushing Atlanta to No. 2 in registered users in the U.S., trailing only New York. My guess is that both of these skeptics have been getting — or will get — pressure from associates and friends to communicate more through social media, whether they want to or not.
Second, the business case studies are coming like a flood. Every day, you read accounts of new success stories in the media. See last Friday’s New York Times piece on Twitter and small business, for starters. Twitter is being used successfully in … Blowing Rock, N.C.? Books and studies are proliferating at a rapid rate, detailing strategies that lead to results.
In short, using social media as part of an overall strategy is a must for most professionals and small businesses. I’ll probably never know what happens with these two skeptics, but I’d wager at least one of them eventually changes his mind.
Now those are odds that I’ll take any day.
