Despite personal opinions and individual usage, we all know Social Media is a powerful and ever-growing and ever-changing beast. However, I firmly believe the power of social media that we DO know, is a micro-fraction of what it will become. Despite the “I’m sitting on the porch” tweets so aptly portrayed in a recent cell phone commercial, most users are shifting away from the trendy and moving towards the value of new communication.

I was referred to a blog article by my long time friend and brother in-law @kevinvonqualen that begins to profile the faces behind the cell phones, TweetDecks & netbooks. A recent 30 day study in August 2009 reveals that the majority of users are aged 35-44, not teenagers, as we’ve been accustomed to believing and most users appear to be from the middle class. What is most interesting is that usage is spread amongst a variety of age groups and educational backgrounds, with no overwhelming shift towards a single group. These figures assume, Social Media is not designed or used for, or by, a specific demographic, yet, these individuals are collectively redefining the way we communicate.

An excerpt from www.briansolis.com

Data: August 2009

All stats are from Google Ad Planner unless otherwise noted

30-day traffic, (U.S., Worldwide)

Unique Visitors – 24 M, 66 M
Reach – 10.1%, 5.1%
Page views – 2.1 B, 4B
Total visits – 270 M, 550 M
Avg visits per visitor – 11, 8.3
Avg time on site – 12:10, 11:40

Gender
Male: 43%
Female: 57%

Age

0 – 17: 11%
18 – 24: 8%
25 – 34: 16%
35 – 44: 29%
45 – 54: 20%
55 – 64: 11%
65 or more: 3%

Household Income

$0 – $24,999: 13%
$25,000 – $49,999: 30%
$50,000 – $74,999: 27%
$75,000 – $99,999: 16%
100,000 – $149,999: 10%
$150,000 or More: 4%

Children in Household

Yes: 28%
No: 72%

Education

Less than HS diploma: 12%
High School: 9%
Some College: 47%
Bachelors Degree: 24%
Graduate Degree: 8%

–

30-day traffic, (U.S., Worldwide)

Unique Visitors – 110 M, 370 M
Reach – 45.6%, 28.8%
Page views – 52 B, 160 B
Total visits – 3.1 B, 8.7 B
Avg visits per visitor – 28,23
Avg time on site – 20:00, 23:20s

Gender
Male: 43%
Female: 57%

Age

0 – 17: 18%
18 – 24: 7%
25 – 34: 14%
35 – 44: 20%
45 – 54: 24%
55 – 64: 12%
65 or more: 4%

Household Income

$0 – $24,999: 7%
$25,000 – $49,999: 22%
$50,000 – $74,999: 36%
$75,000 – $99,999: 18%
100,000 – $149,999: 12%
$150,000 or More: 5%

Children in Household

Yes: 36%
No: 64%

Education

Less than HS diploma: 22%
High School: 14%
Some College: 36%
Bachelors Degree: 20%
Graduate Degree: 8%

–

30-day traffic, (U.S., Worldwide)

Unique Visitors – 1.2 M, 4.6 M
Reach – 0.5%, 0.4%
Page views – 31 M, 97 M
Total visits – 7.2M, 21 M
Avg visits per visitor – 6, 4.6
Avg time on site – 6:50, 6:50

Gender
Male: 48%
Female: 52%

Age

0 – 17: 3%
18 – 24: 7%
25 – 34: 20%
35 – 44: 36%
45 – 54: 16%
55 – 64: 14%
65 or more: 3%

Household Income

$0 – $24,999: 22%
$25,000 – $49,999: 29%
$50,000 – $74,999: 16%
$75,000 – $99,999: 20%
100,000 – $149,999: 8%
$150,000 or More: 5%

Children in Household

Yes: 11%
No: 89%

Education

Less than HS diploma: 4%
High School: 7%
Some College: 43%
Bachelors Degree: 32%
Graduate Degree: 14%

–

30-day traffic, (U.S., Worldwide)

Unique Visitors – 9 M, 23 M
Reach – 3.9%, 1.8%
Page views – 230 M, 410 M
Total visits – 53 M, 98 M
Avg visits per visitor – 5.9, 4.2
Avg time on site – 7:30, 6:50

Gender
Male: 64%
Female: 36%

Age

0 – 17: 11%
18 – 24: 9%
25 – 34: 18%
35 – 44: 29%
45 – 54: 18%
55 – 64: 10%
65 or more: 4%

Household Income

$0 – $24,999: 14%
$25,000 – $49,999: 28%
$50,000 – $74,999: 25%
$75,000 – $99,999: 20%
100,000 – $149,999: 10%
$150,000 or More: 4%

Children in Household

Yes: 22%
No: 78%

Education

Less than HS diploma: 15%
High School: 10%
Some College: 39%
Bachelors Degree: 27%
Graduate Degree: 9%

–

30-day traffic, (U.S., Worldwide)

Unique Visitors – 19 M, 73 M
Reach – 8.3%, 5.7%
Page views – 1 B, 3 B
Total visits – 94 M, 280 M
Avg visits per visitor – 4.9, 3.8
Avg time on site – 8:00, 9:10

Gender
Male: 45%
Female: 55%

Age

0 – 17: 13%
18 – 24: 9%
25 – 34: 19%
35 – 44: 25%
45 – 54: 21%
55 – 64: 11%
65 or more: 3%

Household Income

$0 – $24,999: 12%
$25,000 – $49,999: 27%
$50,000 – $74,999: 29%
$75,000 – $99,999: 18%
100,000 – $149,999: 10%
$150,000 or More: 4%

Children in Household

Yes: 28%
No: 72%

Education

Less than HS diploma: 16%
High School: 11%
Some College: 41%
Bachelors Degree: 23%
Graduate Degree: 9%

–

30-day traffic, (U.S., Worldwide)

Unique Visitors – 14 M, 31 M
Reach – 6.1%, 2.4%
Page views – 800 M, 1.4 B
Total visits – 85 M, 160 M
Avg visits per visitor – 6, 5.1
Avg time on site – 9:40, 9:00

Gender
Male: 50%
Female: 50%

Age

0 – 17: 3%
18 – 24: 3%
25 – 34: 16%
35 – 44: 31%
45 – 54: 28%
55 – 64: 16%
65 or more: 4%

Household Income

$0 – $24,999: 11%
$25,000 – $49,999: 18%
$50,000 – $74,999: 23%
$75,000 – $99,999: 23%
100,000 – $149,999: 16%
$150,000 or More: 10%

Children in Household

Yes: 10%
No: 90%

Education

Less than HS diploma: 4%
High School: 9%
Some College: 34%
Bachelors Degree: 37%
Graduate Degree: 16%

–

30-day traffic, (U.S., Worldwide)

Unique Visitors – 61 M, 120 M
Reach – 26.1%, 9.1%
Page views – 32 B, 39 B
Total visits – 1.2 B, 1.5 B
Avg visits per visitor – 19, 13
Avg time on site – 23:20, 21:40

Gender
Male: 36%
Female: 64%

Age

0 – 17: 34%
18 – 24: 10%
25 – 34: 12%
35 – 44: 16%
45 – 54: 19%
55 – 64: 7%
65 or more: 2%

Household Income

$0 – $24,999: 7%
$25,000 – $49,999: 39%
$50,000 – $74,999: 35%
$75,000 – $99,999: 11%
100,000 – $149,999: 6%
$150,000 or More: 2%

Children in Household

Yes: 57%
No: 43%

Education

Less than HS diploma: 32%
High School: 12%
Some College: 42%
Bachelors Degree: 10%
Graduate Degree: 4%

–

Via Compete.com for June 2009

Unique Monthly Visitors: 78 M
Total Visits: 459 M

Via Quantcast for June 2009

Gender
Male: 50%
Female: 50%

Education
No College: 48%
College: 39%
Grad. School: 13%

Children in Household
Yes: 43%
No: 57%

Household Income
$0 – $30,000: 20%
$30,000 – $60,000: 27%
$60,000 – $100,000: 27%
$100,000+: 27%

Age
13-17: 19%
18-34: 35%
35-49: 24%
50+: 19%

—

What are your feelings about Social Media and the direction it is heading? How do you use it to communicate in your business and personal life?

This week, Echelon Design, Inc. is sponsoring the Social Media survey being conducted by Exhibitor Media Group, in association with Synchronicity. The survey will target the effect on social media within the tradeshow and events industry. It will be distributed to 10,000 event professionals and will be published in the January 2010 issue of EXHIBITOR Magazine and Corporate Event to provide insight into how these individuals are utilizing these networks to enhance their marketing efforts.

While Echelon Design will be sharing the results of this survey through Tradeshow Insight, we developed a short survey of our own in hopes of comparing both sets of data. Your participation is greatly encouraged and your comments are always welcome.

(polls)

(polls)

It’s Social Media week here at Echelon. We’ve gathered our marketing and sales teams together to discuss strategies and overall trends with the major networks. Echelon’s Chris Brown posted a recent article discussing Facebook and its impact on the social world. We’ve even launched a new YouTube page as another networking tool for media resourcing.

I scoffed at Bill Gates in 2005 when he predicted that CDs and DVDs would soon be “extinct.” I originally laughed at the idea of email becoming a reliable form of communication. Now, I look at my media collection and realize that I have purchased more hard drives to support my digital media than I have CDs or DVDs the past year. I open an office drawer to find postage stamps that have witnessed two rate changes since they were last used on the heels of recent ominous news regarding the future of the US Post Office. My instinct this time in regards to Social Media, was like many I’m sure. But I had to catch myself and when I looked at the staggering figures, I realized, Social Media is here for good.

I came across a video from Socialnomics.net yesterday that provides some astounding statistics:

• By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
• Years to Reach 50 millions Users:

Radio (38 Years) 
TV (13 Years)
Internet (4 Years)
iPod (3 Years)
Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months
iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.

• 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle when available

It’s obvious that the growth and popularity is undeniable and as the haze is slowly drifting aside, the role it plays in day to day business is starting to become clear. As shown, 80% of companies use LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees. If Social Media has been able to establish a reliable recruiting tool for businesses, there is no doubt to its value in marketing, customer service and networking.

“Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.”

Have you designed a strategy to undertake this revolution?