I read an article from the New York Times website (cited below) titled “Half of America Is Using Social Networks” (2011) by Somini Sangupta. A study by the Pew Research Center showed that 50 percent of Americans used a social network, and I was a bit surprised by this metric. I knew that social networking “sites are more popular among younger people” with a 83% participation rate, but to see that 65% of adults are using services like Facebook was interesting to me. What stood out the most for me was the comparison between the study now and a similar study done six years ago, where “only 5 percent of all adults said they used social sites.” That dramatic increase, along with the growth of the Internet in general, means that it has an impact on industries and companies. Other interested parties that see these trends in usages would then use it to their advantage for marketing, advertising or outreach purposes.
The response to social networking’s usefulness was not surprising to me, however. The study showed that “good” was the common word used to describe the social networking experience, with one in five subjects calling the services “boring” or “time-consuming,” showing that this new age of social interaction is not for everyone.
Sengupta, Somini. "Half of America Is Using Social Networks." New York Times (2011): 1 Sep 2011. <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/half-of-america-is-using-social-networks/>
This is a really interesting topic. I know that in my own family a lot of the "adults" have started using Facebook as a means of communicating with relatives who live far away (my mom's side, for example, is spread across four provinces in Canada). I think it's really great to be able to keep in touch with my cousins through social media sites.
ReplyDeleteI'm also curious about the statistics from six years ago. I have to wonder if all of the adults answering that they did not use social media sites were being truthful. Perhaps out of embarrassment about being part of what could have been considered a "young people's craze" some of them didn't answer with the truth. (And then there are those Myspace parents from back in the day who got accounts to spy on their kids, haha.)
I agree. Lots of older people have started using Facebook. I actually wrote my post on senior citizens getting on Facebook. They are actually holding classes to teach the computer or technology illiterate how to use Facebook! That's crazy. I never would have imagined that social media would escalate into sessions being taught on how to use them. I understand they have social media seminars, but those are usually for companies and businesses that want to utilize social media rather than use it leisurely. I think that more and more people of all ages are using social media because it helps keep in touch with friends and family as well as in touch with the rest of the world. Now we're able to get new through these sites as well as shopping deals. It's the new way information flows.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on this one, I see people that are way older than me on facebook, my parents friends try to add me as a matter of fact. I guess it allows many of them to stay in touch with many of those people that they have lost touch with. And if you think of it that way its cool. But I will not allow my mom or dad to create a facebook, I tell them that it will completely distract them from what they may be trying to accomplish throughout the day. But I guess they are trying to get into the "Now" and roll with the times.
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