People are Joining and Fleeing Facebook at the Same Time

We've all heard the astounding numbers from comScore of how Facebook attracted 87.7 million unique visitors in the US in July, but what is too often neglected is the small but noticeable size group of online users fleeing from Facebook. This post in the NY Times shows us a different side that we are not used to seeing from Facebook... the quitters.

Some of the reasons the post describes why people are leaving the famed social networking site is the fear of stalkers, how the site makes them "nosy", how the scene has turned desperate, and how some believe that their privacy has been compromised. Even though Facebook seems to be on top of its game now, it can not forget about all the above mentioned points, unless it plans to become a ghost town in the near future.

The 'Greying' of Social Media

From our post yesterday looking at a not-so surprising article in yesterday's NY Times, Who’s Driving Twitter’s Popularity? Not Teens, which looks at the popular growth of some of the latest social media in the last few months, specifically, Twitter; I thought I'd add my 2-cents. As we noted, they supply some interesting data from comScore including that just 11% of Twitter users are between the ages of 12 to 17. Overwhelmingly, Twitter users are an older segment of the population and as Forrester Research notes in the article, people aged 35 to 54 using social media grew 60 percent in the last year.

Shocking? Hardly. Over at Mashable they've highlighted this in their coverage of the NY Times piece here, and had written about this just a few weeks ago. In the NY Times piece they highlight a couple of obvious reasons why, first, that the nature of the technology, much more public than social networks like Facebook, is less enticing to teens who are more comfortable interacting and sharing with their friends rather than random strangers coming across their streams. This in turn, looking at it from a professional perspective, offers adults a means to find interesting and useful topics and discussions relevant to their interests.

But very simply as a segment of the population, the 'Teens' demographic overwhelmingly uses social media/networking compared to other age groups. In a sheer numbers comparison, there's not many more users to attract to the technology while other age groups, all you have is room to grow. In fact, in the case of Twitter, that may be what will eventually happen for 12-17 subset of users. But for me, what is fascinating is how fast the comfort level is rising in the adoption and ongoing usage of social media by older users - not so much that they are leading the charge in using technology, but rather its overall importance as a tool among many tools they use. In the past, in the early days of the dot com boom and bust, web usage was still highly segmented. For social media today, its usage overall is beginning to top even the frequency users access their emails:

In fact in a follow-up piece on their technology blog, BITS, they look at this growing adoption and usage by older demographics, citing recent Forrester reports and data. Clearly, as a communication and interaction medium this growth in usage by older segments of the population raises some questions. For marketers, particular brand managers, the hope that the power of tv, radio and other traditional mediums to influence purchasing decisions will somehow remain strong is increasingly questionable. Why? Well, looking at advertising dollars and ROI through those mediums seems shaky at best. I'm sure any media buyer out there would say not so, but I am biased. And as we pointed out this week, clearly marketers see the numbers and the level of adoption by all age groups and customer segments, and its not a question of should we use social media, but when.

But looking past marketing, the impact of social media on the business landscape raises even more questions. How does it impact customer service, if increasingly customers feel they are able to get better and faster responses via social media a la Twitter, case in point, Comcast and Southwest Airlines to name a few. How might it impact product development, market research, sales, etc, etc. Of course, I may be simply preaching to the choir.

But then again, every time I work with direct marketers and product managers in certain industries, I continue to hear, well our audience just isn't that tech savvy. When I hear that, my eyes glaze over and mind drifts away and I think, for your sake, I hope it's true.

Why are Teens Anti-Twitter?

There's been buzz this week about the rejection of Twitter by teens. And Jeff Bertolucci of PCWorld asks, "Just how uncool is Tweeting?" Bertolucci writes that according to ComScore, only 11 percent of Twitter users are aged 12 to 17, the New York Times reports.

Bertolucci thinks that the reason teens aren't down with Twitter may be because its too public, whilst texting allows for more privacy.

What do you think?

Who's Using Social Media?

What do you think the percentage is of companies that have added social media to their marketing mix? This post on eMarketer details the results of the 2009 Marketing Industry Trends Report conducted by Equation Research which found that the majority of businesses are already using social media. About 59% of all US brand marketers surveyed claim that social media is already part of their marketing activity? Do these numbers shock you? Here's the chart below.

McDonald's and Social Media

In Time, they look at McDonald's recent online actions with the social networking site 365Black. Last week, discussion started on Fox Nation about the website, which some see as stereotyping the community. This began an online discussion that suddenly spiraled out to such sites as Digg. McDonald's doesn't have a well-rounded social media campaign, and as a result, has had trouble maintaining a clear online presence.

Muhammad Saleem, director of social media strategy for the Chicago Tribune's Chicago Now commented on the situation:
"Even if the idea was a good one and truly was promoting black cultural heritage, it really does come off as manipulation and stereotyping. It's part of a larger problem — McDonald's doesn't have the sort of brand loyalty and trust to be able to have this sort of campaign and have it be embraced."

McDonald's responded that this is a social networking website for individuals to come together and share experiences about how McDonald's has changed their lives.

What do you think about McDonald's actions to reel in the negative coverage they're receiving over their social networking website?

The Risks, and Rewards, of Social Media for Newspapers

Joe Strupp of EditorandPublisher.com writes that, for most newspapers, Facebook and Twitter have become the primary social-media outlets. The Post boasts eight official Twitter accounts, while its Facebook network spans 16 different memberships — including one for former employees.

The New York Times, however, is perhaps the most active social-networking newspaper. Its main Twitter account, which notes nearly every story posted on its main site, surpassed one million followers in June; its Facebook page boasts about 460,000 fans. In late May the Grey Lady appointed its first social media editor, veteran newswoman Jennifer Preston. While some staffers worried she was going to be something of a Twitter and Facebook cop, Preston says her job is to coordinate all uses of social media.

How do you think that social media fits in with the goals of a newspaper? Is it important for newspapers to embrace social media? We'd like to hear your thoughts.

Facebook and Twitter Synchronize for Automatic Updates

I came across this interesting post from ReadWriteWeb today in which Dana Oshiro shares with readers a new service that Facebook has just rolled out that will allow admins of Facebook pages to automatically publish their updates to their Twitter accounts. Users can control whether status updates, photos, links, notes, and events are shared. Dana mentions that many artists and groups have already set up this feature including Dane Cook, World Wildlife Fund, and Livestrong.

It was only natural for Facebook and Twitter to sync up like this, just wondered why it took so long for the integration.

Updated Call for Presenters: Social Media & Community 2.0 Strategies

From: Kelly Potanka
Re: Social Media & Community 2.0 Strategies
Event Date: May 3-5, 2010
Location: Boston World Trade Center & Seaport Hotel
Deadline Extension: Tuesday, August 25th

Social Media and Community 2.0 Strategies
The New Era of Profitability: Cashing in on the Conversation

Submission deadline has been extended until Tuesday, August 25th for Social Media & Community 2.0 Strategies - THE interactive forum designed for savvy Market Researchers, Innovators, Brand Managers, and Marketing Communications Enthusiasts seeking practical business applications to leverage the transformative power of social media connectivity as a business driver.

For 2010, we are looking practical applications from corporate practitioners that illustrate action-focused deliverables that produced business results. Submit your case study on how you implemented community/social media in your corporation to drive results for:
• Innovation, NPD, R&D
• Market Research, Customer Insights
• Conversational Marketing
• Brand Building & Loyalty
• Customer Engagement & Support

If you are a corporate practitioner, we invite you to submit a speaking proposal directly to Kelly Potanka, Conference Producer, on or before Tuesday, August 25th, 2009. Send to kpotanka@iirusa.com or call 646-895-7330. Please note: abstracts are reviewed and selected on a rolling basis, so please submit early. For consideration, please include:
• Proposed speaker name(s), job title(s), and company name(s)
• Contact information including address, telephone and fax numbers and e-mail
• Talk title
• Summary of the presentation (3-5 sentences)
• What the audience will gain from your presentation (please list 3-5 key “take-aways”)

Due to the high volume of responses, we are unable to respond to each submission. All those selected to participate as speakers will be notified shortly after the deadline.

Thank you for your interest in Community 2.0. Check for updates and discussion related to the event at http://bit.ly/C20CallforPresenters.

Is Social Media the the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?

Is social media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? We were passed along this relatively new video making the rounds that depicts Social Media as potentially bigger to our civilization than the Industrial Revolution--do you agree?

Take a moment and view this video by Socialnomics.

Social Media Revolution

Huffington Post and Social News

Kara Swisher's latest post on her blog highlights how the Huffington Post has launched a new feature called HuffPost Social News in which it allows readers to create a personalized social networking page right on the Huffington site. The Huffington Post has already used Facebook Connect since January, but it believes that news is ultimately moving more and more into the 'digital water cooler' direction.

Kara also mentioned that there are already 1.7 million comments on the site monthly, but if it expands its reach with social news that number can easily expand even further. It will be interesting to see where tv news will head in the future once online communities and social networks take control.

Translating brand webpages to online communities

At CRM News, they look at how many brands are trying to convert their static brand pages into interactive online communities that can foster an environment for their users as well as bring in great amounts of market research. By providing message boards and participate with the fans of the products, instant communication can provide feedback that is currently unattainable in modern focus groups. Although adoption of these webpages has been slow, there is an increasing trend to build powerful online communities. Read the full article here.

Two-Thirds of Marketers Now Use Social Media

Mashable.com reports today that, "a recent study from the Association of National Advertisers reveal that 66 percent of marketers have now used social media in some capacity in 2009." Looking through the report we can see this interesting breakdown of social media use by marketers:

Among social networks being embraced by all marketers, the top sites used are:

• Facebook (74 percent)
• YouTube (65 percent)
• Twitter (63 percent)
• LinkedIn (60 percent)

In 2009, the most effective newer media platforms were as follows:

• Search engine marketing (SEM) (65 percent)
• Own Web site (59 percent)
• Search engine optimization (SEO) (55 percent)
• E-mail marketing (45 percent)

What do you think? Surprising?


New ANA/B2B Magazine Study: Marketers Embrace Newer Media Platforms

STUDY: Two-Thirds of Marketers Now Use Social Media

Twitter: Who you Follow Defines You

The main theme of Robert Scoble's recent post on the Scobleizer seems to limit the amount of people who you follow on Twitter. Robert gave a great example of how Chris Brogan follows over 90,000 people on twitter, but there is no possible way that he is able to see all of those tweets. Even Robert (who only follows 1,900 people) has a hard time seeing half of all of his tweets through tweetdeck and other twitter applications.

Robert takes a different approach to following people on twitter, he focuses on following only a certain amount of people intimately. Among those people followed are obviously family but then early adopters, influencers, and thought leaders. Everyone though has a different mindset in terms of twitter followers. What's your approach to following people on twitter?

Do We Need Bit.ly and Tr.im?

How integral are URL shortening sites? Do we really need them as we Tweet, Blog and IM with one another? Farhad Manjoo writes an interesting piece in Slate debating the usefulness of such services. With no real way to make money Bit.ly, the most popular, has raised $2M in venture capital, but how will it keep investors happy with revenue? One option is to charge for their analytics service, which is currently free and provides a simple break down of clicks to a particular link. The link shortening sites are very popular on Twitter, which counts the url address characters towards the 140 character limit. What if Twitter didn't do this and we were able to provide longer links?


Short Shelf LifeDo we really need link-shortening services like Tr.im and Bit.ly?

White House Using Social Media to Thwart Healthcare Myths

President Obama and his team of social media gurus have set up a social media campaign to dispell myths about healthcare reform within the United States. The Los Angeles Times reports that, the administration has launched a Web page called Health Insurance Reform: Reality Check that disputes popular criticisms of the new policies. The media-rich, well-designed site contains video testimony from advisers and experts.

The White House blasted links to the package out to more than 300,000 fans on Facebook and more than 900,000 on Twitter today.

We've seen how social media was intergal in President Obama's campaign, will it have the same successful effect with healthcare? We'd like to hear your thoughts via Twitter or on LinkedIn.

Corporate Blogging..We think we know it all

I came across this article from Smashing Magazine that details 10 Harsh Truths About Corporate Blogging. So you think you know it all? Take a quick look at any of these tips, do you think your company is doing its best?

1. A blog does not magically generate traffic
2. Good corporate blog requires long term commitment
3. Teaser feeds are a wasted opportunity
4. You are not “engaging” anyone
5. Press releases shouldn’t appear on a blog
6. You sound like a faceless corporation
7. You need to show the warts and all
8. Marketeers often make bad bloggers
9. You expect too much from your readers
10. Your competitors will read your blog - Get over it!

View the full post here.

The ROI Of Online Customer Service Communities

Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., a member of the Customers 1st LinkedIn Group, a sister event to Community 2.0, recently wrote the white paper The ROI Of Online Customer Service Communities: A Total Economic Impact™ Analysis Uncovers Big Benefits From Social Technologies. See the full white paper here.

Summary:
Consumers are rapidly adopting social media communication technologies and behaviors. Customer service professionals are beginning to look at incorporating these collaborative tools to deliver better customer experiences at a lower cost. This approach seems to have great promise; however, there is little documentation at present on the cost-effectiveness of incorporating social strategies and technologies for businesses. Forrester talked with early-adopter companies and reviewed the solutions from leading vendors to understand the variables to consider for determining the business value of online communities for customer service and support. The early evidence indicates that social technologies are a sound choice because they provide an attractive ROI in a short period of time while delivering better customer experiences.

Read the full white paper:
http://bit.ly/C20GuestPost

Social media Boosts American Express OPEN

American Express small business card members have fueled the success of the company's social media initiatives, specifically with the social networking site American Express OPEN. According to Sean Callahan and Ellis Booker of BtoBOnline.com, the site, provides small-business owners with online content and tools intended to help them grow their businesses, supports the American Express brand, said Marcy Shinder, VP-brand strategy and marketing for American Express OPEN. The site was created with a team of fewer than five people and at a fraction of the cost of other marketing initiatives, such as TV advertising, Shinder said.

American Express uses Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs to drive traffic to the site, which in addition to attracting small-business owners, has also drawn other marketers looking to reach that market. FedEx, for example, has become a paying sponsor of a segment of the site.

For those of you in attendance at this year's Community 2.0 event in San Francisco, we had the pleaseure of welcoming Pepper E. Roukas, Director, Content & Community Development, American Express Global Advertising and Brand Management. Pepper discussed American Express's strategy and even provided us with the case study of OPENForum.

Track Presentation: Needs are the Seeds for B2B

Social media strategy boosts American Express OPEN

Users Under 25 Don't Tweet

Contrary to popular belief this post on Mashable highlights how according to a Nielsen report that was compiled from a panel of 250,000 internet users, only 16% of twitter users lie in the age range of 2 to 24. The majority of twitter users (64%) lie between the age group of 25 to 54 and 20% lie between 55 and over. This information is useful for marketers that are trying to reach the teen demographic. Here's the chart that was provided by Nielsen.

Online city community sees success

According to Jackson J Online, an online community portal for the township created in 2008 has become more popular than the local newspaper's website. With the implementation of an online search marketing strategy, they've grown over 10,000% since the portal was launched. Today, Jackson J Online receives over 6,000 unique visitors a day. Read about the full initiative here.

Ford, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Discuss Social Media Woes

Sarah E. Needleman of The Wall Street Journal rounded up Bonin Bough, Pepsi's global director of digital and social media, Adam Brown, Coke's first head of social media and Scott Monty, Ford's head of social media to discuss their social media woes. According to Needleman, "monitoring a corporate image in cyberspace is a daunting task, even with technological help. Tracking software can identify hundreds of posts daily, and managers must decide which could prove troublesome."

Below are the highlights from Needleman's article. We encourage you to check out the article in its entirety.

Adam Brown:
Last fall, Coke's software spotted a Twitter post from a frustrated consumer who couldn't redeem a prize from the MyCoke rewards program. The consumer's profile boasted more than 10,000 followers.

Mr. Brown quickly posted an apology on the consumer's Twitter profile and offered to help resolve the situation. The consumer got his prize and later changed his Twitter avatar to a photo of himself holding a Coke bottle.

"We're getting to a point if you're not responding, you're not being seen as an authentic type of brand," says Mr. Brown.

Bonin Bough:

PepsiCo intensified its social-media efforts last November after employees saw critical Twitter posts about an ad in a German trade magazine for a diet cola, which depicted a calorie killing itself. A popular commentator, whose sister had committed suicide, asked, "How could Pepsi do this?"

A Pepsi spokesman quickly posted an apology on his personal Twitter page. So did Bonin Bough, who is Pepsi's global director of digital and social media. Mr. Bough, who was hired for the job in September, says the incident prompted Pepsi to create a corporate Twitter profile; in May it launched The Juice, part of the networking site BlogHer.com.

Scott Monty:

One morning last December, Scott Monty, Ford's head of social media, saw Twitter messages alerting him to online comments criticizing Ford for allegedly trying to shut a fan Web site, TheRangerStation.com. The dispute prompted about 1,000 email complaints to Ford overnight.

Mr. Monty, who joined Ford the previous July from an advisory firm specializing in social media, didn't wait to learn the facts. He posted messages on his Twitter page, and Ford's, saying he was looking into the matter, adding frequent updates.

Within hours, he reported that Ford's lawyers believed the site was selling counterfeit goods with Ford's logo. He persuaded Ford's lawyers to withdraw the shut-down request if the site would halt the sales. By the end of the day, he Tweeted that the dispute had been resolved.

What other corporate giants have been able to utilize social media for the company good?