Social Networking vs. Email

Are you noticing more and more of your time being spent on Facebook as opposed to Gmail? If so, you are not alone. A recent study from Nielsen concluded that Social Networking Sites have participation levels of 67% compared to email’s 65%. This is the first time that social networking sites have overtaken email’s importance.

This has a number of implications for musicians and advertisers. For musicians, an impressive presence on Facebook and MySpace just touches the surface. These pages must be continually updated with fresh content to provide a reason for people to peruse your band’s page.

For advertisers, this spells trouble. Traditionally, social networking sites have not attracted impressive click thru rates (the amount of time an ad shown is clicked per # of visitors). People on these sites choose to interact with friends instead of advertisers. So, advertisers will need to find creative ways to work within these sites.

The Nielsen report also highlighted that in 2008, 2/3rds of Internet users visited Social Networking sites and that 10% of overall internet time is dedicated to social networking sites.

I would assume that this trend will only continue to increase as the 30+ age group is now the fastest growing for Facebook, and sites like LinkedIn continue to increase in popularity. When I consider my Facebook and LinkedIn contacts, I don’t have many of their email addresses or phone numbers. Especially for contacts from the past. Facebook and LinkedIn then become the easiest way to contact people.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com