A meeting of social media minds in Davos, Switzerland
Seven out of the world’s 15 most trafficked websites are social media sites, according to George Colony of Forrester Research.
A recent CNN article divulges this information. Sure, we all know that social media is the hot thing right now. However, I for one had no idea how extremely scorching it really is. Combined, Facebook and Twitter experience 155 million visitors per day.
Colony went on to say that media consumption is between five and six hours per day for average users.
I get roughly six hours of sleep per night, yet average users are getting that same amount in media exposure.
Why has social media taken over?
What has brought us to this point? What compels us as humans to participate in social media to the degree that we do?
MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta believes it’s because the internet is becoming more social.
It’s hard to argue with the social nature of the web. Right now I could have a conversation in a chat room with someone from Australia. I can share photos, videos, and audio clips with this complete stranger and potentially form a bond while being thousands of miles away.
Van Natta definitely knows a bit about the social aspect as MySpace was a pioneering social network that allows people to share music, video and games.
In a similar vein, Twitter’s creator Evan Williams noted that more people are doing things since they are now motivated by like-minded individuals who they are connected to via social media.
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The issue of privacy
Privacy was discussed at this convention as well. Some of these social networks practice different policies when it comes to the topic, and some have been scrutinized for their policies before.
Do you recall when Facebook adjusted its privacy settings? This adjustment made much more personal information available to the whole of the internet community who were not designated Facebook “friends”.
This of course raised complaints and brought up the notion that the sharing of personal information could negatively impact your professional life.
So how true are these notions? As publishers and business owners, do you agree? If you are hiring for a position do you consult Facebook to see if your potential hire is on there? And if so, what information do you look for in that person’s profile? I would love to hear from you on this.
What has social media taught us?
For one, social media has taught me that regardless of the niche subject, there is an audience for it out there, somewhere. Furthermore, it has made it possible to directly communicate with that audience. Surely all niche publishers can agree with this.
Social media has brought everything from daily minutia to extremely intimate elements to a computer near you. In my mind, that fact alone makes it a social and technological masterpiece.
How about you? What has social media taught you? Please comment, and then feel free to Tweet your answer to all your loyal followers…
And if you want to explore different strategies for successful social media marketing, attend our Social Media Strategy session at the Mequoda Summit in Napa Valley.
