A Forrester study finds that 80% of U.S. netizens now utilize social networking channels—equivalent to the penetration of DVD players. Forrester believes that this usage has plateaued, and communicators must find innovative solutions to stand out in the cluttered social media environment. Other study findings include:
• The average Facebook member boasts 135 friends, which rises to 220 among 18-30-year-olds, while Twitter recorded a median score of 77 followers—96 for 31-44-year-olds.
• Prioritizing “mass influencers” online, Forrester broke them down into two distinct categories: “mass connectors,” comprising 6.2% of the online population, will create 80% of the 256 billion impressions concerning goods and services on social networks this year.
• “Mass mavens,” some 13.4% of Web users, deliver content about products through interactive channels like YouTube, blogs and forums, generating 80% of 1.64 billion such posts.
Source: Forrester