Social Media Sites... Mainstream?

Mainstream Social Media

Stats from the study:
* 75% of Internet users participate in social media, whereas only 56% participated in 2007.

* 48% of respondents have read a blog at least once.

* 69% identified themselves as active “spectators” of blogs, up from 48% the previous year.

* 37% identified themselves as “critics” that write product reviews, up from 25% the previous year.

* 19% “collect” Internet content through social bookmarking and RSS feeds, up from 12% the previous year.

* 21% publish a personal blog or Web page, a minor increase from 18% the previous year.

Quite surprising numbers, in my opinion. Over 3 out of 4 people participate in some form of Myspace, Facebook, etc and nearly 7 out of 10 users are regular blog viewers.

This is clearly a case of companies attaching themselves to an entity that's enormous in its range of demographics and number of users. When they see the amount of activity and potential for numerous types of content, it's an advertising goldmine. Not just that, even going so far as to make a Myspace page, which costs nothing.

Another point made in the study is that social networking sites can help improve relations between consumers and corporations. The growth and expansion of communication possibilities can only help when it comes to building trust with the cynical consumer.

That being said, Facebook can still go to hell for opening up access to non-collegiate students.

Who Doesn't Love A Lil' Poll Dancing?

Gallup, Rasmussen, Zogby, Diageo, Pew, Ipsos, etc.

No, those aren't the names of Bond villains, those are the names of political polls. Names that mean absolutely nothing to 99% of Americans but once every four years, and how much do they even mean to that percentage of this country? Could it be possible that polls influence someone's vote?

When you have two polls come out on the same day, with one saying a double digit lead, one saying a 5-8 point lead, and even another saying "too close to call", it creates genuine distrust in the entire polling process, and even the media that legitimizes them by using them in stories.

If nothing else, being bombarded with these silly polls makes me realize that I can and should only worry about one thing: where each candidate stands on the issues, what their plans are if they're elected, and their history of public service; Because MY VOTE is what I control, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that I maximize the potential of what I can control. In this case, it's making the most informed decision about who I would want next to lead our country, and not based on what a bunch of polls report.

Don't blame me: I voted informed.

I found this interesting...

More TV/Radio Use Likely During Financial Crisis

Monday, October 13, 2008 ::

TV and radio use will likely increase during a prolonged recession, predicts University of Maryland media economist Douglas Gomery. He bases his comments of current audience behavior as well as Great Depression era trends.


"TV and radio will both do well during a deep recession," says Gomery, an emeritus professor of journalism at the University of Maryland, who co-authored "Who Owns the Media?" (2000) and nine other books. He is also a scholar-in-residence at the University of Maryland Library of American Broadcasting.

"U.S. households spend six to eight hours with the TV on. It is cheap and Americans will not give up TV. Why? Because this is where they can see movies and other entertainment! Theatrical attendance used to be about 10 percent of an average movie's gross. Home viewing represents 90 percent. Folks can and will use TV for news and entertainment."

"Radio will do well as we are stuck in our cars each working day, and free, over-the-air broadcasting requires no cash," says Gomery. "A poor economy is not likely to be kind to satellite radio services XM and Sirius - even as merged."


Film: "One great myth is that film-going did well during the Great Depression of the 1930s," Gomery points out. "Not so, attendance had fallen by one-third in 1935 from its previous high in 1929. It hit bottom in 1937. The World War II economy helped bring cash into people's hands and that upped movie attendance. By 1942 the industry had regained its 1929 attendance records."

Broadcasting: "What the (first) Great Depression did was establish radio," Gomery says. "Urban folks had electricity and with the introduction of portable radios, sets became more affordable. In 1930 some 25 percent of U.S. homes had radios. By the 1940 census it was close enough to 100 percent to not worry about the rounding error."

"Newspaper sales and advertising fell in the Great Depression and this is not good news for today's newspapers," Gomery says. "That which costs cash - watch it go down. Newspapers around the country are already collapsing. The newspaper sales and advertising - save for those who take the New York Times - is off by 50 percent - with no bottom in sight."

Douglas Gomery is a media economist and emeritus professor of journalism at the University of Maryland. He is also scholar-in-residence at the University of Maryland's Library of American Broadcasting.

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The first thing that grabbed my attention was that the professor made these predictions based on GREAT DEPRESSION statistics. The idea that people's behavioral patterns will mimic that of the GREAT DEPRESSION (even though he referred to our current status as a 'deep recession') era is indicative of how much of a struggle it is right now for a lot of people.

The professor made good points about relating the usage of mediums such as tv and radio to economic status/stability.

But the statement he made about the Great Depression establishing radio as a medium got me thinking...

how (if at all), and if so, how much could this prolonged recession change the way people use media? Are citizens so entrenched in their normal media routine that they won't skip a beat? Will some cancel their tv or internet service? That statement really made me curious. I suppose I would undergo little change in the way I use media, if at all.

His point about movie theater attendance is spot on, in my opinion. I have certainly been more choosy in regards to which movies I think are worth going paying $7+ to go see. In fact, I can't even remember the last movie I saw in the theater.