Is it wrong that I just poured over 14 well-researched, informative, and professionally developed information about the current state of social media users in America and around the globe and couldn’t find a single thing interesting to write about? Nielson put a good amount of time and effort to put together their Social Media Report, but nothing earth shattering came out of it.
We get it. People are using social media. A lot. Non-stop. Obsessively. Women are more likely to use it than men. 18-34 is the biggest age bracket but 55+ is driving the growth, particularly in mobile use. Asians in New England are more likely than Caucasians in west south central US to spend time daily on Facebook and other sites.
Long story short, there really wasn’t anything worth reporting. It’s not a slight against Nielson, the social networks they covered, or the people they questioned. It’s about fatigue. It’s our job to explore the depths of social media, but every now and then it just keeps repeating itself.
That seems to echo the sentiment I’m feeling as I comb over the data to try to find something interesting. None of it is sticking.
Today, thanks to the data (and at least in some part thanks to Chris Brogan) I have decided to make a change at Soshable. There are plenty of places to get data. We want people. We want the businesses, organizations, and individuals who are getting social and doing something with it. I don’t care that Barack Obama just broke the 10-million Twitter follower mark. It’s meaningless.
If he gets on Twitter and starts asking people their thoughts on the stimulus plan, I’ll be interested. A Nissan dealer Auburn that’s active in social media stresses that engagement is really the most important part of being social, not rehashing content.
We get it. People love social media. How they use it and what they’re doing with it is more important than stats and figures. It’s not that we won’t report them, but if there’s no human element involved, you’ll have better luck finding it on Mashable.
For the sake of fairness, there are those who read this for the stats, so here are some – the last ones that will be posted here on Soshable without a human element involved. Enjoy:
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I think we all go through that “I’m sick of Social Media” phase. I just love the irony of Chris Brogan posting his status on twitter…
We have also made peace with the fact that social media is the new democracy (in a way) and can’t be ignored.
Your line sums it up perfectly though “We get it. People love social media. How they use it and what they’re doing with it is more important than stats and figures.”
Thanks for the fresh approach to the same posts.
I’m very excited to hear about the new direction for Soshable! Social media is really about people, not statistics and numbers. People do things on social media and people make it interesting. Looking forward to hearing about the people. Thanks!
People love social media – that’s for sure! The growth of registered and active users are fast increasing. It’s enough proof to say that people really love social media.
Social media is indeed evolving to every which way each site is tailored to. Collectivly, the human element of ingenuity will hopefully continue to snowball.
People love social media because it gives them a chance to pick people apart. BTW, it’s “pored”, not “poured”. You’re welcome!
(I love the infographic!)
Social Media is a useful thing and I am sure many people love it!!!
Social Media is a useful thing and I am sure people love it!