Social Media Trends around the World
Posted by Jeffrey Henning on Tue, Oct 27, 2009
Bonnie Breslauer of Lightspeed Research presented the Global Web Index (GWI) at ESOMAR Online Research 2009, which includes research from Tom Smith of TrendStream.
The Global Web Index is a syndicated research offering from TrendStream focusing on attitudes regarding usage of social media. TrendStream surveys 16,000 respondents every six months with a long questionnaire (completion took longer than 30 minutes). Lightspeed's global consumer panels were weighted by national representation of key demographics, focusing on 16 markets representing 70% of the Global Web Universe.
While email is continuing to grow, social network and community sites are growing faster: 31% growth from August 2008 to 2009 for social networks compared to 20% email growth. The key factors for online usage are cultural, generational and gender.
- Cultural drivers. Emerging markets (Brazil, Russia, India, China) have the greatest usage of social media and use social media more than ecommerce.
- Generational drives. After country, age is the second defining factor. The younger the respondent the more likely to use social media. Everyone uses the Internet to stay in touch with friends, but keeping friends up-to-date has the highest skew towards younger generations. Users who create content are also more likely to be younger, regardless of culture. Younger generations have greater trust in social-media connections and trust the author of a blog they've read recently more than a journalist for a national periodical.
- Gender. Women are more socially motivated than men and are more likely to have engaged in social media usage within the prior month.
Social media users fall into three types: passive, light and active. Passive users participate by viewing; light users update content or manage a social-network profile; active users create web sites, blogs or videos. While small in number, active users have a disproportionate influence.
The survey touched on some brand use and perceptions. Consumers value open dialogue with a company as opposed to one-way messaging: 22% reported that their perception of a brand is improved if the organization responds to comments in online communities and forums. In an interesting segmentation, owners of Chrysler, GM and Ford automobiles are less likely to use microblogs or upload videos than BMW or Mini Cooper owners.
As social media evolves, it is more important than ever to understand trends among consumer usage of social media.