Social Media User Behavior is Changing Fast
At last, audience growth in social media is beginning to taper off. In the U.S., Facebook users will grow only 13.4% after 38.6% growth in 2010 and 90.3% growth the year before that, according to eMarketer. Twitter growth among adults will be only 26.3% this year, versus 293.1% in 2009.
As the growth plateaus, consumer behavior has begun to shift. According to the Wave 5 Trends report from GlobalWebIndex, social network usage among U.S. 16-to-24 year olds is now flat. This age group has been reducing its activity in a variety of areas, like messaging with friends and joining groups. Similar changes are seen among users in other countries, but the fall-off is less dramatic.
Chart: Change in Facebook June 2011 user behavior, compared with July 2009
| Activity | U.S. | Worldwide |
| Uploaded videos on profile | 5% | 7.6% |
| Online dating | -2.1% | 1.1% |
| Started a group | .5% | 1% |
| Wrote a blog | -7.8% | .2% |
| Played a game | -4.2% | -.1% |
| Instant messaged with friends | -7.5% | -1.5% |
| Searched for new contacts | -12.7% | -4.5% |
| Joined a group | -12.8% | -6.5% |
| Sent messages to friends | -14.8% | -7.4% |
Source: GlobalWebIndex, August 2011
Recent research from Webtrends showed that response rates to advertising by Facebook users are also declining. Compared to .063% in 2009, response in 2010 was .051%. In fact, it appears that consumer engagement in general with Facebook display ads is weaker. An EyeTrackShop study showed that only 53% of Facebook users noticed the ads placed on the right-hand side of the page, compared to 74% of users of all social media. Once they did notice the ads, Facebook users spent 33% less time viewing them.
Behavior is changing on Twitter, as well. The GlobalWebIndex study reveals that content dissemination is now the top subject of frequent Twitterers. They are less active in creating their own content, and more active in passing information and links on to others.
Chart: Top activities of heavy Twitter users
| Nature of the post | Stated usage |
| A link to another microblog | 65% |
| Personal photos | 63% |
| A link to a video | 58% |
| Link to a news story | 49% |
| Comment about an event you’re attending | 40% |
| Link to your blog | 38% |
| Link to a story about a product | 34% |
| Comment about a TV show | 33% |
| Link to your website | 30% |
Source: GlobalWebIndex, August 2011
Ad engagement on Twitter is on a growth path, as the company introduces more ad opportunities, like Promoted Tweets (a pay-for-performance keyword bidding system, similar to AdWords), Promoted Trends (buying top placement for a tweet resulting from searches on a certain hashtag) and Promoted Accounts (paying Twitter to suggest to like-minded subscribers that they follow you).
Business people’s social media usage
While consumer usage may be leveling off, social media usage is booming in business. Among small businesses, a whopping 88% of business owners say social media has generated attention for their businesses, 72% say it has increased traffic, and 62% say it has improved search engine rankings, according to The Social Media Marketing Industry Report.
But it’s not just small business; it’s also in large enterprise, where social media is becoming more influential for internal communications, project management and worker collaboration. New data from intranet strategy consultant Jane McConnell finds that social media are in use in 70% of enterprises, with 55% of them using blogs and wikis, 26% using microblogging, and 22% using social networks.
What does this mean for marketers?
- Companies should make an effort to experiment with the new ad tools to generate more followers and friends for their firms or their brands.
- Content is still king. If Twitter users are going to pass along content they find valuable, then marketers need to produce plenty of interesting and entertaining information for them to transmit.
- B-to-B marketers must continue to test the social media waters, as more and more desirable targets adopt the new media.
- As these media mature, and consumer engagement weakens, advertisers need to keep close track of their ROI.