Social Networking and Blogging Outstrips E-Mail use

A study just published by Neilson Co. shows that social networking and blogging are now more popular online activities than e-mail. In the 90’s it was e-mail. In the 200’s it is all about social networking since it is a more efficient means of communication for one to many people. It’s also become a great marketing tool and a way for companies to communicate with their users and indeed, to obtain feedback from the market place. According to Neilson, Facebook is the most popular network and is visited by approximately 30% of people online every month. Globally, social networks and Blogs account for one in every 11 minutes spent online. Nielsen also found that the social network and blogging audience is becoming more diverse, with the biggest increase in visitors during 2008 occurring among 35- to 49-year-olds. And this doesn’t take into account mobile communications, which is growing faster in Europe. In the UK, 23% of those visiting a social network are doing so via a mobile phone, that is 2 million people! In the US, the figures are 19% and 10.6 million people respectively or 156% increase over the previous year in the US. E-mail has its place for corporate communications but it’s time for companies to seriously incorporate social networking as part of their marketing mix. Post your comments or e-mail me at businessissuestoday@gmail.com