The Social Network 2.0: Get Me Rewrite!

Michael Hedges February 23, 2011 Follow on Twitter

Fascinated as we are as humans in trends and novelties, social media’s ascendance has spawned study upon study. Consumers like social media, certainly, but some more than others. Social media communicates, except when it doesn’t.

Social networks were accessed by 83% of Spanish internet users in 2010, up from 76% year on year, reports Spanish consumer trend spotter The Cocktail Analysis (February 22). Obviously, that means the percentage not using social networks has dropped to 17% from 24%. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Spanish consumers with smartphones visit social network sites.

“Facebook has become synonymous with the (social network) concept,” said the report. A large majority of internet users (78%) are Facebook users, with 86% of Spanish consumers “interacting” with Facebook. Unsurprisingly, 60% of smartphone users access Facebook. Two in five internet users access a social network via smartphone at least once a month.

Twitter activity is a bit more nuanced. Two in five Spanish smartphone users access Twitter though only 17% report “following” anything or anybody. But Twitter has the highest brand recall, 86% knowing the brand, leading Facebook with 61% and Tuenti at 55%. Then, too, Twitter accounts are the most abandoned. Having no friends or colleagues using a particular social network platform is the most common reason for closing or no longer using social networks.

Tuenti is one of the fastest growing social network platforms worldwide. Primarily focused on Spanish language users with a unique invitation-only model, telecom giant Telefonica bought 85% of Tuenti last August for €70 million.

Smartphone users daily access to social media in Spain, according to the study, has risen to 29% from 9% one year on. The availability of newer smartphones along with flat rate service and applications tied to social network platforms has contributed to the significantly increased usage. Three in ten Spanish smartphones users access geolocation services like Google Maps and Foursquare.

On PC’s and laptops engagement with social networks has grown only slightly, to 86% in 2010 from 81% one year on. Users typically access two social network platforms. Facebook is “the network,” says the study with overall 78% penetration, yards ahead of Tuenti (35%) and Twitter (14%). The big losers, year on year, are Hi5, MySpace and Fotolog. Differences emerge between PC/laptop and smartphone users. PC/laptop users like to gossip and share photos. Smartphone users tend to be more passive, preferring to “see and read.”

Those who use social networks have changed their media habits. Television appears affected most, 71% of social network users saying they watch less. Slightly more than half report reading newspapers less. More than one-third said they talk to friends on that old telephone less.

Among internet users aged 31 to 40, Facebook and Twitter are most popular. Older users prefer Xing and LinkedIn, while users under 20 years like Hi5 and MySpace. People over 40 years are most likely to use a variety of media.

Only slightly changed is the percentage of Spanish consumers unwilling to pay for news and information online, 85% in 2010 down from 88% in 2009.

Social network usage varies considerably across geographies and cultures. French mobile phone users are less inclined to access social networks via the smartphone (37%) than use SMS (56%), said the Deloitte study Addicted to Connectivity presented at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona. Chinese mobile phone users overwhelmingly prefer SMS (93%) to social networks (30%), language capability playing a certain role.

Sure to warm the hearts of the advertising people, more than half the respondents in the Spanish study reported referring to a brand or product in their social network messages, mostly with regard to employment, special price offers and product information. The advertising people have increasingly steered corporate clients to social networks. A Burson-Marsteller study of international Fortune 100 companies shows 84% using social networks for marketing communications in 2010, up from 79% year on year. Asian companies, it seems, are rushing to take advantage of the marketing potential in social media.

“The increased use of social media in Asia is partly due to higher marketing investments in the region, but also to the efforts of Asian businesses to reach new audiences abroad,” said Burson-Marsteller CEO Mark Penn. “In addition, international companies better integrate the interactive nature of social networks and are more likely to engage these platforms directly.”

The Cocktail Analysis study of Spanish users drew conclusions relevant to the future of social media and its usefulness within the broader media context. “The number of contacts is no longer the goal,” it said. More valued is quality of contacts “and their role as audience of the user.”

Social media is used, at least among this study group, as a tool among tools. “Interaction (is) being redirected to other channels, which are closer and more private in emotional terms, such as instant messaging or email.” The business model stirs.

Communication through social media is considered “low value.” When the “character” of social media relationships change users tend to abandon the social network. Now we know the theme of the next movie.

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