Social media is taking over the world.
Well in terms of Generation Y (1982-2000) anyway.
Heck, just recently on the 30th June we celebrated the second annual of 'Social Media Day'.
Generation Y is my generation and I often ask myself:
- How much time do I spend on Facebook?
- How many Tweets do I send out?
- How many YouTube videos do I upload?
- How many places do I check into on Foursquare?
- How many photos do I scroll through on Flickr?
I was told recently that if you plan to stay in the media industry; you must become familiar with all things digital. Obviously, this prominent media platform is the birthplace of the social media industry.
Earlier this week, the 3rd instalment of the 'Social Media Revolution' was released on YouTube. Key things to note include:
- Social Media has now taken over pornography as the number 1 activity on the web
- Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the US
- YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world
- 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands
- 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations; only 14% trust advertisements
This brings me back to my opening sentence. Having since learned about social media back in 2004 when MySpace officially began the revolution; I have not once doubted it. Not only does the newer and improved social networking site Facebook continue to grow but the social media platform around it is rapidly expanding its horizons.
Have you heard of Twitter's new development? 'The guide' is the new Twitter hub for all journalists around the world. This website contains tips on how to report, engage with other users and followers and provides a guide to using tweets in the process of reporting. Having studied a Bachelor of Journalism myself, I can see how this website will be ever so effective in allowing journalists to fulfil their full job description: 'To report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy in the quickest time possible'. Facebook has recently done the same thing, launching a page for journalists. What these journalists then go onto report is what makes the world go round and the fact that these social media platforms are driving this is indicative of the rising influence that social media continues to have on us.
In business, I'm of the belief that if a company is not using social media as part of its marketing plan then this needs to be addressed and better still, immediately changed. Word of mouth has now become 'world of mouth' and social media is the driver of this marketing phenomenon. Although, it can at times be negative, I am a firm believer that in the long term ... your business will be forever grateful!
Joel Smith
Mindshare
** For all the latest on social media; the full video of 'Social Media Revolution 3' can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0EnhXn5boM