Want to know how much space social media and social networking occupies in your waking life right now?
“More and more people are connecting to the Internet-and for longer amounts of time,” revealed Nielsen in their study entitled ‘State of the Media: The Social Media Report 2012.’
The social media report shows that “consumers continue to spend more time on social networks than on any other category of sites — roughly 20 percent of their total time online via personal computer (PC), and 30 percent of total time online via mobile. Additionally, total time spent on social media in the U.S. across PCs and mobile devices increased 37 percent to 121 billion minutes in July 2012, compared to 88 billion in July 2011.
The growth of social media is spurred on by improvements in smartphones and tablets, and the proliferation of new social media networks. Consumers are now finding it even easier to interact with people around the world and to gain information about products and services.
A Look at the Top Social Networks
The top social networks of 2012, in order of unique PC visitors, are Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, WordPress, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, MySpace, and Wikia. Though Pinterest may be a far cry from Facebook in terms of visitors (27 million versus 152 million), it did experience massive growth compared to Facebook’s small decline (+1,047% versus -4%).
How, Where and Why We Connect
The rapid improvement in technology has allowed people to digest media in several ways beyond their computers. Mobile phones, tablets, handheld music players, game consoles, Internet enabled televisions, and e-readers. Although computers still topped the list of gadgets people used to access social media, it’s closely being followed by mobile phones. Mobile phones, which are taken everywhere, are the go-to device for users aged 18-24 (who even use it in the bathroom). Meanwhile, users aged 25-34 tend to get their fill of social nedia in the office.
The Consumer Decision Journey
Companies are now finding it harder to maintain a monopoly on their brand messaging and how consumers perceive them. A growing number of users are getting input from the ever-increasing network of acquaintances, friends, and family. Although 70% use social media to learn from other people’s experiences, over 50% use social media to compliment or complain about the brands they’re using.
To view the complete study, visit Nielsen’s blog.
(Featured Image and Infographics Credit: Nielsen)
