Why the hype?

Social Media Report
By: Jennifer Israel

What's all the fuss about? Social media is everywhere. It is intertwined in our lives as a daily routine used in personal and professional settings.

I interviewed ten people (7 females/ 3 males) about how social media (SM) plays a role in their lives: one female teenager, three male young adults, three female young adults, and three female adults.

On average, study participates have been SM users for about five years. Half are users on multiple networking sites, while the others only use one. Facebook is the most popular SM for all ages and genders, followed by an occasional Tweet on Twitter or update on MySpace. Blog sites are used by 50 percent of the surveyed young adults. There is also one Linkedin adult user and one young adult gamer.

Most SM users are active for about an hour a day, while multitasking: watching TV, typing emails, chatting with friends, walking through the halls, etc. All survey participants like being able to connect instantly to a lot of people at one time.

One participant states that her best experience using SM is, “reconnecting with my old classmates from elementary school that I hadn't seen in 25 yrs. How nice to see everyone grown up and still retaining the same personalities I loved as a kid! I also reconnected with a few friends from college. This digital reconnection allowed me to see a few of these long lost friends in person … Facebook has taken me back to a simpler time in my life.”

Another explains how it has mended family relationships, “I found my cousins on Facebook and have started a new relationship with them!!! My uncle (their father) passed about when I was 6 (22 years ago) and we lost touch of my cousins (my aunt and him were divorced). Found them on FB and have since made it a point to see each other as often as we can. One of them lives in G-ville and the other in Orlando. :) It has really brought our family together!”

The most common disadvantages to SM are being easy distracted, feeling lazy, and lack of privacy. In addition, a few dislike the style of communication.

One interviewee says, “Well for a while social media decreased my socializing with people in person. However, that isn't the case as much anymore.”

On the other hand, some say SM helps strengthen their interaction with people, and create new relationships. “I actually asked her (my girlfriend) out through Facebook 3 months ago and we are still together.” Another interviewee states, “I have met the love of my life on match.com!”

Fifty percent of surveyed participants use SM for personal and business use, while the others use SM for personal only. The personal users of SM connect with friends through chat, post comments, and share content. While the business users of SM focus on networking, interacting with sources, and marketing.

SM has drastically changed one interviewee’s life, “My blog has gained quite a following since starting it in March 2007; an average of 400 unique visitors from across the world. It's gained a lot of attention from PR companies and in turn I've been able to get a lot of fashion freebies and do a lot of giveaways on my site.”

All participants but one, say they would not continue using SM if it started charging an activation fee. The one interviewee that would keep an account is already paying for a URL.

What has this survey taught me about SM? In general, all users mainly participate in social networking sites to connect with others. These “others” could be long-lost friends, potential business partners, or distant family - it’s all about connecting.