social media – making it business relevant
DESCRIPTION
Research Specialist Aaron Smith recently was part of a panel at RTIP discussing how people actually use social media and ways in which the racing industry can use it to their advantage.TRANSCRIPT
Online participation in thesocial media era
Racetrack Industry ProgramDecember 10, 2009
04/12/23 2RTIP Social Media Panel
Introduction
• Who we are
– A non-profit, non partisan survey research organization
• What we study
– The impact of the internet on people’s lives
– Trends in technology use
• What we don’t do
– Market research, promotion of specific technologies
04/12/23 3RTIP Social Media Panel
The internet then and now2000
46% of adults use internet
5% with broadband at home
50% own a cell phone
0% connect to internet wirelessly
<10% use “cloud”
= slow, stationary connections built around my
computer
2009
77-79% of adults use internet
63% with broadband at home
85% own a cell phone
54-56% connect to internet wirelessly
>two-thirds use “cloud”
= fast, mobile connections built around outside servers
and storage
04/12/23 4RTIP Social Media Panel
Online activity pyramid
Basic online entertainment (online videos, playing games)
E-commerce (online shopping, banking, and travel reservations)
Research and information gathering (product research, news, health and religious information searches)
Email and search
Active engagement with social media
(visit SNS, create SNS profile, create blogs)
More advanced online entertainment
(download videos, music and podcasts)
More advanced communication and passive social media use
(instant messaging, visit SNS, read blogs)
Today’s internet is built on communication,
sharing and creativity
04/12/23 5RTIP Social Media Panel
The social web is built on people posting content about things that interest them
04/12/23 6RTIP Social Media Panel
A few key social media platforms
• Online video sharing sites (Youtube, etc)
• Online social networks (Facebook, MySpace, etc)
• Status update services (Twitter)
04/12/23 7RTIP Social Media Panel
Use of online video sharing sites has doubled since 2006
Who Watches
Gains across all age groups:
• 90% 18-29
• 67% 30-49
• 41% 50-64
• 27% 65+
Balanced by income/education
Wireless connectivity is a big driver
04/12/23 8RTIP Social Media Panel
Use of online social network sites has grown nearly six-fold since 2005
Most popular sites among adult users:
• Facebook (73%)
• MySpace (48%)
• LinkedIn (14%)
• ~15% on “other” sites such as Flickr, Bebo, Digg, BlackPlanet, Orkut, etc
04/12/23 9RTIP Social Media Panel
Online social networks have “democratized” since 2005
SNS users, 2005 SNS users, 2009
Highly educated (45% have college degree, vs. 35% of online population)
Education levels look just like the rest of the online population
Concentrated in urban areas (41% vs. 32% of all internet users)
Rural areas lag slightly, but urban tilt has largely disappeared
Skew male (55% vs. 45%) Skews female (54% female vs. 46% male)
Skews towards under-45 Despite growth among older cohorts, young adults actually make up a greater proportion of SNS users than in 2005
No racial/ethnic differences Same
04/12/23 10RTIP Social Media Panel
Usage of Twitter and other status update services has tripled since Summer 2008
Who Tweets
• Young adults
• Racially and ethnically diverse
• Rural residents lag
• No differences around income or education
• Slight gender split (women more likely to do so)
• Online social networks and wireless mobility are big drivers
04/12/23 11RTIP Social Media Panel
Content creation activities
Activity % of internet users
Share something online that you created yourself, such as your own artwork, photos, stories or videos
30
Post comments to an online news group, website, blog or photo site
26
Take material you find online—like songs, text or images—and remix it into your own artistic creation
15
Create or work on webpages or blogs for others 15
Create or work on your own webpage 14
Create or work on your own online journal or blog 11
04/12/23 12RTIP Social Media Panel
The online creative class is bigger than you might think
• 51% of internet users now post content online that they have created themselves
– That works out to 39% of all adults (internet users and non-users alike)
• On a typical day in 2009, 15% of internet users (that’s more than one in ten Americans) posted something online for others to see
04/12/23 13RTIP Social Media Panel
Older adults are growing increasingly comfortable with online content creation
Other data points:
• The percentage of online 30-49 year olds who share their own creations online has nearly doubled, from 18% to 34%.
•6% of online seniors (those 65 and older) maintain their own blog, triple the 2% who did so two years ago.
04/12/23 14RTIP Social Media Panel
Content creators are mobile and connected to others
OK, so people post stuff online…what’s the big deal and why should I care?
04/12/23 16RTIP Social Media Panel
Participation Changes in attitudes
Agree
(all internet users)
Agree(participatory
class)
The internet helps me feel more personally connected to my candidate or campaign of choice
28% 54%
I would not be as involved in this campaign as much if it weren’t for the internet
22% 47%
04/12/23 17RTIP Social Media Panel
Participation Changes in behavior
0
20
40
60
80
100
2+ offline
acts
2+ online
acts
Member of
a civic or
political
group
Contact
govt official
Sign a
petition
Letter to
editor
Political
donor
Charitable
donor
Church
donor
Participatory class Online non-participators Not online
04/12/23 18RTIP Social Media Panel
For additional information
• Where to find our research:
www.pewinternet.org
• Where to find me:
Aaron Smith, Research Specialist
Pew Internet & American Life Project
(202) 419-4516
Twitter: @aaron_w_smith