The Young Don’t Vote Excuse

I’ve been reading a lot of small race analysis and arm chair quarterbacking lately and I keep bumping into the same logic.  “Appeal to the 50-59 demographic because they actually vote and the under 35 crowd doesn’t.”  I can say that statistics have proven this theory out in the recent past.  However, believe this assumption/mantra/belief is to be followed at your own peril.  The candidates who engage the large blocks of younger voters and drive them out to the polls will win with overwhelming majorities.  Will you go with the numbers and what the Best Campaign Consultant tells you?  Or will you decide to engage voters and blow away the numbers who come out to vote for YOU at the polls.

If you happen to be a candidate in the 35 and under category, you have an amazing opportunity here because over 35’s may vote for you too..while you rewrite the typical election results with your demographic.  Stop ignoring the under 35 set and give them a reason to vote…for YOU.

Twitter Caught Benjamin Button Disease

ComScore, the media research company, has now reported that the young population, 12-18, is actually growing at the fastest rates.  It’s been common knowledge that Twitter was the network for old dudes.  As a matter of fact, based on the charts, individuals aged 35+ even became a super-majority back in 2008 making up over 60% of the Twitter-sphere.  While their “Twitter-share” has decreased over time, up until this summer they held on to a 50% majority.

ComScore credits celebrity tweeters with much of the youthful rejuvenation Twitter has seen in the past few months.  More specifically they mention the Ashton v. CNN, first one to 1 million followers event.  Whatever the circumstances are around Twitter’s reverse aging, this is changes a whole lot for businesses, politicians, organizations, and frankly, anyone that’s marketing themselves on Twitter.

Hyper-targeted followings will become even more important as online marketers try to increase their reach without wasting it.  Twitter has now reached over 21 million US visitors which doesn’t even include mobile users – which is also likely more popular among the younger 12-24 demographic.

One thing we can count on is that the Benjamin Button affect has likely ended as I don’t foretell 0-11 year olds tweeting a whole lot….then again, you never know.

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Does Twitter exist for those younger than 25?

Simply put.  NO.  I’ve asked every group of students and those just out of school and generally speaking Twitter is a non-starter.  So is there a secret marketing platform or social media platform we can use to reach them? It’s called…the cell phone.

Just about 100% of the 18-25 demographic has a cell phone and they text message like crazy.  Many will give you permission to market to them…if you ask.

Luckily, ORS has partnered with a text message marketing platform that’s easy to use and affordable. (Full interview for subscribers).  It’s called Catch Wind and if you’re running a campaign or are a candidate yourself and TRULY want to connect with this demographic…just use the communication medium they’re using.

Who’s Who in Social Media Demographics, Part 6 of 6 | YouTube

Well, as you read back on May 11th we discussed the preferences of Women in blogs versus networking sites.  As I mentioned, I wanted to dig a little deeper and see who is who in the world wide web.  We’ve now created a six part blog series that will cover six networking sites’ demographics.

YouTube

YouTube is currently reaching 81 million US people every month.  It currently ranks as the sixth site on the internet for how many users it has.  Out of all those users, YouTube has over 486,000,000 visits every month.

By researching these 81 million users, what can we find out about these users?  Well, 51% of them are men and 49% are women.  1% of those users are addicts who account for 25% of all visits to the site.  46% of users are regular visitors who account for 60% of visits and 53% are passer-by users who account for 15% of visits.

The age breakdown of these users is as follows:

• 3  to 11 : 3%
• 12 to 17 : 19%
• 18 to 34 : 36%
• 35 to 49 : 23%
• 50+ : 19%

Another interesting fact is the education level of most of the users.  48% have do not have a college degree.  This surprises me since the users under the age of 18 only account for a total of 22%.  Granted, some of these are found in the 18 to 34 group, but I am surprised that it is that high.  Overall, YouTube does a respectable job at entertaining the teenagers but at the same time still is dominated by the popular 18 to 34 group.  These statistics are definitely helpful.

Who’s Who in Social Media Demographics, Part 5 of 6 | Twitter

Well, as you read back on May 11th we discussed the preferences of Women in blogs versus networking sites.  As I mentioned, I wanted to dig a little deeper and see who is who in the world wide web.  We’ve now created a six part blog series that will cover six networking sites’ demographics.

Twitter

Twitter is one of the fastest growing social networking sites around.  Between the beginning of March to the end of April Twitter is estimated to have more than doubled its total number of users.  It currently is reaching 23 million US people monthly.  It is getting more than 158,000,000 hits a month.  Women use Twitter slightly more than men, accounting for 52% of Twitter’s users.

The frequency of traffic on this site is interesting.  1% of those addicted to the site account for 35% of the site’s traffic.  The regulars (27%) account for 41% of visits.  Twitter is primarily dominated by people over 18 years old.  People under 18 years of age only account for 2% of these users.  That surprised me.  44% of Twitter’s users are between 18 and 34, 33 % between 35 and 49, and 21% over 50.  Clearly Twitter is built for people at the college level and above.  Teenagers just aren’t using it as much.  That is probably why 63% of users have a college degree.  Pew Internet recently reported that the median age of Twitter users is 31 years old.

The topics on Twitter primarily focus around entertainment, politics, and other daily topics.  It isn’t used as much to stay in touch with family and friends.  Normally people will resort to Facebook or other blogs to do that.

In terms of total household income, Twitter is fairly balanced between all levels.

• $0 to 30k : 22%
• 30 to 60k : 28%
• 60 to 100k : 23%
• 100k+ : 27%

The amazing thing about Twitter is really how fast it is growing.  At the pace it is at it will be coming up on other social networking sites shortly.

Who’s Who in Social Media Demographics, Part 4 of 6 | MySpace

Well, as you read back on May 11th we discussed the preferences of Women in blogs versus networking sites.  As I mentioned, I wanted to dig a little deeper and see who is who in the world wide web.  We’ve now created a six part blog series that will cover six networking sites’ demographics.

MySpace

MySpace still has over 64 million users?   I didn’t realize that.  I have almost forgotten about this site.  I thought this was extinct.  In August 2007, MySpace reached 83 million users, but since then it has dropped to 64.3 million users monthly.  You could probably blame this on Facebook.  I am not going to lie, I like Facebook more than MySpace and I did three years ago too.  There is a reason why Facebook has taken over.  However, we still can’t ignore MySpace.  It still has over 64 million users.  That means it still has influence that most websites haven’t ever touched.

44% of MySpace’s users are male and 56% are female.  27% of MySpace’s users are between the ages of 12 and 17.  46% of users are between the ages 18 to 34.  This website is dominated by the younger generation.  Most social networking site’s total users are not 27% teenagers.  This may explain why 56% of users don’t have a college degree.

Most traffic on MySpace is made up of addicts.  18% of addicts make up 70% of the traffic.  The other 82% only make up 30% of the traffic.  That goes to show that most of those users are not participating all that much.  Outside of the 18%, people are not very active on MySpace.

One statistic that really stuck out to me was that 14% of users are Hispanic.  That is significantly higher than most other social media sites.

Anyway, while MySpace is dropping, do not completely ignore it if your demographic is there.

Who’s Who in Social Media Demographics, Part 3 of 6 | LinkedIn

Well, as you read back on May 11th we discussed the preferences of Women in blogs versus networking sites.  As I mentioned, I wanted to dig a little deeper and see who is who in the world wide web.  We’ve now created a six part blog series that will cover six networking sites’ demographics.

LinkedIn

Personally, I find LinkedIn’s demographics to be the most interesting of all.  Not necessarily because they don’t make sense, rather, because it is so different from so many of the others.

LinkedIn is currently reaching 11 million users in the United States and 19.6 million globally.  LinkedIn’s traffic exceeds 50 million visits in the United States and 87 million globally.  While not as big as other social networking sites, its growth has been steady.  The highest total of users linked in has ever had was in April 2009 at 11.8 million in the United States and 21.2 million globally.

Here are the statistics about these users.  57% of these users are men and 43% are women.  Only 1% of these users are under the age of 18.  The stats for user’s age are as follows:

• 18 to 34 : 27%
• 35 to 49 : 46%
• 50+ : 26%

I guess the 18 to 34 group doesn’t always win.  Quantcast isn’t the only place reporting numbers like this.  Pew Internet has reported that the median age of LinkedIn users is 40 years old.  This is clearly the result of the nature of the website and its purpose.

LinkedIn also attracts more affluent and educated people as well.  37% of users have a total household income that exceeds 100k in one year, and 30% of users are making between 60 to 100k.  Only 13% make 30k or less.  Most are very well educated.  29% of these users have gone to graduate school.  82% of total users have a college degree.

This website also has interesting stats in regards to traffic.  2% of these users are addicted to it and account for 42% of the visits.  40% are regulars and account for 44% of the visits, and the rest (58%) account for 14% of the visits.

Who’s Who in Social Media Demographics, Part 2 of 6 | Flickr

Well, as you read back on May 11th we discussed the preferences of Women in blogs versus networking sites.  As I mentioned, I wanted to dig a little deeper and see who is who in the world wide web.  We’ve now created a six part blog series that will cover six networking sites’ demographics.

Flickr

Currently, Flickr is pulling in about 22 million users every month.  The highest it has ever had is 24.9 million in February of this year.  Its growth is fairly steady.  54% of these users are men and 46% are women.  That is a significant difference in genders.  You cannot ignore that stat.

Most of Flickr’s users are comprised of 18 to 34 year olds who account for 39% of its users.  35 to 49 year olds account for 31%.  People less than 18 only account for 12% total.  This website isn’t attracting the teenagers like many of the other websites do.

Less than 1% of Flickr’s users are addicted to it, and that tiny fraction accounts for 22% of its traffic.  29% are regulars and visit Flickr 49% of the time out of all of its users.  The remaining 71% account for 31% of visits.

Who’s Who in Social Media Demographics, Part 1 of 6 | Facebook

Well, as you read back on May 11th we discussed the preferences of Women in blogs versus networking sites.  As I mentioned, I wanted to dig a little deeper and see who is who in the world wide web.  We’ve now created a six part blog series that will cover six networking sites’ demographics.  The first one, as you noticed in the title, is Facebook.  So check us out for the next week to be sure you get to see all of them..

If you’re wondering why this stuff even matters.  Well, it goes along with micro-targeting which we’ve been discussing for a little while now.  If you don’t know who your constituents are, demographically, and you don’t know how to segment and reach them, you cannot start an effective grassroots campaign.

_______________________________________________________________

Social networking sites are flooded with users.  This is old news.  It is time that we start focusing on exactly who is using each site.  This is something that I have been researching on the internet recently.  The answers I am looking for can be difficult to find because there are so many different statistics provided throughout the web.  Many sites share similar trends but also have contradicting numbers.  I guess it is difficult to nail it down exactly.

Facebook

Who is using Facebook?  It appears as though everyone is, doesn’t it?  Facebook currently ranks as the fifth site on the internet for the most users.  It reaches 87 million US people every month.  In addition to that, Facebook gets visited over 4.7 billion times a month.  Can you imagine that?  On January 7, 2009, Mark Zuckerberg reported that Facebook had exceeded 150 million users worldwide and has already exceeded 200 million in less than 5 months.

46% of Facebook’s users are men and 54% are women.  The age breakdown of these users is as follows:

• 3 yrs old to 11 yrs old : 1%
• 12 to 17 : 28%
• 18 to 34 : 47%
• 35 to 49 : 15%
• 50+ : 9%

12% of these users are addicts who account for 66% of visits.  Regular visitors account for 54% of users and 31% of the traffic.  The other 34% of the users account for 3% of visits.

The statistics that surprised me the most was the percentage of people who have a high total household income.  30% of users have a total household income that exceeds 100k every year.  29% of the users make a total hou-

sehold income between 60k and 100k.  Basically, the people that are using Facebook are generally more affluent.

The number of Facebook’s users continues to skyrocket.  It is incredible.  It hasn’t really shown signs of slowing down.  Its growth in the numb

er of users has been steadily increasing.  There is no other social networking site that has reached the level Facebook has.

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