Nielsen just recently released its Social Media Q3 Report and, unsurprisingly, social media is on the rise. Anyone who is remotely connected to the outside world could have guessed that social media is infiltrating almost every aspect of how we live. Whether it’s brands asking consumers to “like” them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter, or live events like political debates or sporting games flashing a hashtag for people to join a live discussion of the event, social media is seemingly everywhere! And, while the Nielsen report may simply confirm what we already know, some of the stats they’ve uncovered are still mind-boggling enough to make your jaw drop.
In the report, Nielsen notes that:
- Social networks and blogs reach nearly 80 percent of active U.S. Internet users
- Social networks and blogs dominate Americans’ time online, accounting for 25 percent of total time spent on the Internet
- Americans spend more time on Facebook than any other U.S. website
- Nearly 40 percent of social media users access social media content via their smartphones
- Of active adult social networkers, 70 percent shop online
- 53 percent of active adult social networkers follow a brand
- Social media app usages is up 30 percent from one year ago and games are the most popular at 67 percent of all app downloads
And, if you’re wondering who the majority of these social-networking fanatics are, Nielsen has also outlined the most likely demographic to use social media networks and blogs. You are a prime suspect of wasting too much time on sites like Facebook and Twitter if you are a female between ages 18–34 of Asian or Pacific Islander decent, living in New England with a bachelor’s or graduate college degree, making less than $50K/year.
However, I’m not all together convinced that this demographic is accurate, as most of the categories Nielsen outlines only have a range of a few points. For instance, saying that the most likely social media user is from New England is based on a ranking of 102, but the ranking for the least likely users in West South Central Americans is just 5 points less! Likewise, for gender, females ranked at 103 and males ranked at 96… It doesn’t seem like these are such stark differences, but it’s interesting none the less to see who is edging who out. Maybe the males will make a social media comeback based on this report!
This post was first published by Meredith L. Eaton on March Communications blog, PR Nonsense.