The Social Media Revolution
Social Media provides an outlet for individuals to communicate, connect and share ideas. With the explosion of the worldwide web, the individual has been given a unique platform to speak his mind and share his life.
Social Media Has Changed the Way We Communicate & Connect
In the olden days, communication was restricted to the professionals. If you wanted to publish your article, you had to convince a major magazine editor to give you the time of day. This was extremely challenging. As a result, the majority of written communication was limited to journalists, editors and professionals—the people who controlled the media, magazines and book-publishing industry. But in recent years, that has all changed. Thanks to a sweeping phenomenon called social media. Now any person with a keyboard and internet connection can print and publish his or her thoughts, opinions, photos, videos and articles for others to enjoy. Individuals no longer have to simply “listen” to what’s told to them by the professionals, they can now take part in the conversation.
In the introduction to his book, “Twitter Power” Joel Comm demonstrates how quickly and effectively news and information is broadcasted via social media. During the 2008 shootings in Mumbai India, the first people to spread the word about this event were eye-witnesses at the scene using sites like Twitter. This news was broadcasted around the world hours before the TV or radio stations picked up the story. Social media is a powerful tool. And savvy business owners can tap into this invaluable resource to grow their businesses and brands.
Social Media Offers a Wealth of Opportunity for Savvy Marketers
Social media provides you with the opportunity to reach your market directly without spending thousands of dollars on traditional advertising. Sites like Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter and MySpace give you access to millions of potential customers. Take a look at these staggering statistics:
- There are over 60 million active users on Facebook.
- Since 2007, Facebook has received an average of 250,000 new users every single day.
- MySpace has over 110 million users.
- One on every four Americans are on MySpace.
- According to TwitDir, a directory of Twitter users, this site had over 3 million users.
- 60 million people visit YouTube every month. And 10 hours of footage is uploaded every minute.
- According to Technorati, a blog-tracking service, there are over 100 million English blogs.
It may surprise you to learn that social media sites are not necessarily full of teenagers who are looking to chat with their friends or download free music. Sites like Facebook & Twitter attract a much more educated, affluent and professional audience. In fact, Facebook has its roots in Harvard. As a result, this site is full of well-educated college students. Twitter’s dominant demographic is people between the ages of 35-44 years old, which claim a quarter of its users. 14% of Twitter users are young affluent professionals who live in large metropolitan areas. An additional 12% consist of people in their 40’s who are making an excess of $250,000 per year.
Can you see the potential? If you’re business is not on any social media sites, it’s time to get started right away.
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