Social Media: Not Just a Fad

Fads of the Decades

• 1960s: tie-dye, lava lamps, and ouija boards
• 1970s: tetherball, pet rocks, and Farrah Faucet hair
• 1980s: parachute pants, Rubik’s cube, and Jazzercise
• 1990s: Tamagotchi, chat rooms, and spandex
• 2000s: Crocs, Hannah Montana, and… social media??

Consider the Following (Adapted from Erik Qualman’s Article, Social Media: Fad or Revolution?)

• By 2010, Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers — 96 percent of them have joined a social network.
• One out of eight couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media.
• Eighty percent of Twitter usage is on mobile devices. People update anywhere, anytime. Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences!
• What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
• More than 1.5 million pieces of content (Web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook daily.
• Wikipedia has more than 13 million articles. Some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica.
• There are more than 200,000,000 blogs. Fifty-four percent of bloggers post content or tweet daily.
• Years to reach 50 million users: Radio, 38 years; TV, 13 years; Internet, 4 years; iPod, 3 years. Facebook added 100 million users in less than nine months; iPhone applications hit 1 billion in nine months.

So… you decide. Is social media just another fad, or has it completely revolutionized the way people across the globe do business, connect with loved ones, share information, and live their everyday lives?

Need help revving up your company’s presence in the social media world? WEBii can help! Contact one of our specialists today to talk about starting a customized social media plan for your business.