The Influence of Socialnomics

How recent social media trends are affecting the way society operates, and why social media is a viable industry.

While these stats keep growing by leaps and bounds and the leaders today i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn,etc  may not be the leaders tomorrow these are some revelatory numbers .
The social media influence on today’s world is nothing less than a 4th wave revolution. Here’s an article with some current stats. I’ve included the most recent video by EriK Qualman to use as a comparison. While these stats are nothing new by now, they are worth repeating..

First the video..

(I-Newswire) September 6, 2010 – Social Media isn’t just Facebook and Twitter. It includes a whole network of sites where users can interact with one another whether it is by sharing information or discussing various topics. Some of the more popular social media sites that you may not at first consider to be part of this group are sites like Digg (Share Links & News), Alternative Fuse (Groups, Events), Stumbleupon (Share & Discover Websites), Delicious (Share Favorites), Wikipedia (Share Information), Flickr (Share Pictures), Blogging (Share Anything), YouTube (Share Videos), Linkedin (Professional Social Network) and so on. As you can imagine, social media has grown tremendously and has changed the landscape of information exchange and communication.

But make no mistake about it, social media is here to stay, and statistics will prove it. Statistics taken from Clean Cut Media revealed that:
• In 2008 1 in 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met through social media.
• 80% of Employers use LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees.
• There are over 200,000,000 blogs, 54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily.
• 34% of bloggers post opinions about products about products or brands.
• 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum.
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations as compared to 14% who trust advertisements.
• 70% of 18-34 year olds have watched TV on the web.
• Social Media is the number one activity on the web.
• Facebook reached 100 million users in its first 9 months, whereas it took Television 13 years to reach half that amount.

So what do these statistics indicate towards the rapid growth and development of social media?
First of all, it indicates that all levels of society as well as all activities in a society have been incorporated by Social Media. Secondly, nothing about the stats indicate a decline in Social Media, however; individual services may fade away like yesterday’s trend as we have seen in the past, but, social media as a whole cannot dissipate as there is far too much of a demand and need for these capabilities.

In a separate study by online gaming site Roiworld, 600 teens were were found to spend two hours a day online, 80% of whom spent time on a social network. The study showed there are signs of “Facebook Fatigue” as 1 in 5 were no longer visiting Facebook or using it significantly less than they did before. The teens cited losing interest or leaving because parents are there. A small segment mentioned privacy issues.

As we have seen in the past with internet trends, they cannot last forever, the shift in Facebook momentum by the younger generation, as well as others who are tired of the Facebook limitations and interface will inevitably go to other social networks. AlternativeFuse.com is a promising new Social Network in the fact that it incorporates many of the best features which users demand of a Social Network. The level, in which a member of Alternative Fuse can be involved in a group, or community, or event, surpasses that of Facebook and many other social networks. The ability to Video chat with a person who is on the other side of the world, while discussing a news posting or Article written on the network, brings social networking to a new height and is an area being pioneered by Alternative Fuse. The site has taken a creative approach to integrating a social network like profile, where a member can post information about them and then incorporating a blog feature that allows the user to write their own blogs. Much can be said about this new site, whatever that opinion may be, it is undeniable that AlternativeFuse.com is a promising new social network, that will likely take much of the Facebook fallouts, or those fatigued with the conventional social media.