Social Networking - hype or not?

In Ireland, until mainly the mid naughties we as a nation had been pretty ignorant to the notion of social networking. The idea of people who preferred to communicate online electronically rather than ‘down the local’ seemed quite odd. To put it bluntly, social networking had a bad image; it was viewed as a tool which only catered for nerds and pimply techno-kids to allow them the dignity of remaining in comforting surrounds of their bedrooms when they needed to make contact with members of the outside world! That was of course until the infamous Bebo revolution! Now social networking has hit the mainstream and brands such as Facebook and Myspace are as recognisable as those of Coca-cola and Nike. To investigate if they are here to stay I believe we must look at the people who use them, why they use them and inevitably their benefits to business.

Users
In 2008 the most comprehensive study of social networking surveying 49.3m people between the ages of 14-74 was carried out by Rapleaf. It revealed some unsurprising and also some interesting statistics. For example the world’s most popular social networking site Facebook, is dominated by the youngest demographic of user i.e. 14-24; it also stated that the demographic of users of a given social networking website varies greatly for the functionality offered by that website. This shows that the old generation of social network users has been replaced by a younger, more informed group.

Why use social networks?
For me the popularity of social networking is glaringly obvious- giving a person their own personal webspace where they can control the content, control who views the content and offers them the opportunity to be put them in contact with people of their own interests who they have not and possibly will not ever meet is an experience which i believe cannot be equalled, certainly not in the near future. Social networking’s impact on society has been immense and is most noticeable each day in the faces which appear on our TVs and in our newspapers. At the very least it offers the humble everyday user the chance to catch up with friends and follow their interests, at any time they wish.

Benefits to business
As with any fad the commercial viability of social networks has a huge part to play in whether or not they will be around in times to come. We always hear about the success stories arising from sites such Youtube and Myspace, but offering professionals a forum where they can communicate and share their work can offer similar success for the business. Exploiting the advertising and customer relationship management potential of a social network which has reached peak usage in its lifecycle can be very beneficial to the business.

References:
www.rapleaf.com