News
Ok, I'll admit it. I am over 50 and tend not to be an "early adopter" of new technology, especially when it doesn't appear to make or do things any better than before. I'll wager that there are numerous people out there with similar attitudes. For many of us, the very idea of social media is foreign, intimidating and overwhelming. We don't understand its workings or what we are supposed to do with it. However, as you will see in some of the statistics below, a large segment of the population communicates in ways that are increasingly different than what has long been thought of as typical communication. Rather than be overwhelmed by it all, try thinking of social media as just another set of tools to use to your advantage.
While researching social media, I came across some staggering statistics. Here are just a few:
- Facebook is viewed at work more than any other website including Google.
- 93% of social media users believe companies should have a social media presence.
- 77% of the U.S. population uses the internet.
- 96% of 18-35 year olds use social networking.
- According to Pew Research, social-networking use by 50+ year olds has nearly doubled to 42% over the past year.
- 16 million 55+ year olds use facebook.
- Half of the U.S. population uses facebook.
- 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations; 14% trust advertisements.
- 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands
- 3.5 billion pieces of content are shared on facebook each week and 2.5 billion photos are added each month.
- 65 million people access facebook on their mobile devices.
- Men are two times more likely than women to interact with companies via social media.