Twitter, an Incredible Search Engine

Well, we’ve done it again. Today we just launched another fantastic course on “Listening on Twitter.” For those of you that had tuned in last night to the Red Alert Hour you may have heard me say, “Twitter is one of the most powers search engines on the web.” In a world of Google, Yahoo and Bing you would think not much can compete. Well, if you search is news related or business/political anything Twitter may be the first place you want to stop.

Twitter is generating more content than any website I have ever seen. Okay. So maybe it’s not the original outlet of the content so it’s not really “generating” it but it is one of the most popular venues online to share this content. Seriously. Twitter had the following Google did it would blow Google out of the water in terms of searchability.

Why do I say that? Twitter has created the perfect search and share environment. It’s like a peer to peer content sharing site. Imagine LimeWire or Napster (back when it was free, years ago) but instead of music, pics and videos you are sharing links and information, legally . Furthermore, Twitter has provided a fantastic search mechanism, hashtags. I’m not going to explain hashtags because I’ve done that enough. But everything and anything is findable on Twitter.

All of that said (I noticed I say that a lot) here’s why this matters. Imagine the benefits of leveraging this tool to gather campaign intelligence. To understand what your listeners feel about issues. By leveraging Twitter you can move your campaign to the level it needs to be at to win your next election. Fortunately, there are applications that have been provided by third party developers that make listening on Twitter incredibly simple.

Find out more by subscribing to ORS, remember, it’s only $97 a quarter….for now.

Mike Bloomberg, Paid Advertising for Facebook Pages

Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, has started an aggressive campaign to attract his constituents to his campaign page on the internet’s largest social networking site, Facebook.  This week Bloomberg posted a commercial on YouTube inviting his viewers to become his supporters on Facebook.  He also has paid advertisements on the internet attracting people to his page.   This is definitely a unique use of social media for a mayor of a city.  Granted, he is the mayor of New York City, which obviously makes him a higher profile politician than most of your everyday mayors around the country, but I haven’t even seen my Governor (thankfully) or US Senators do this.  Paid advertisements to lead people to your Facebook page?  This is a relatively new concept.  Bloomberg is a pioneer.  I wonder how long it will take until we see that from others.  Maybe next Presidential election we will see paid advertisements on television by Barack Obama or Mitt Romney trying to get us to visit their Facebook campaign page or to follow them on Twitter.   This wouldn’t surprise me at all.

I often mention how great a campaigning tool social networking sites are because they are so cheap (typically free unless you hire someone else to manage it).  Now we have a politician taking it to the next level by actually buying advertising space to promote his campaign pages on social networking sites.  I am curious to see if this strategy is effective and worth the money paid for the advertisements.  Bloomberg now has over 15,000 supporters on Facebook and the number continues to grow.

The world is changing.  Social media has revolutionized the way we communicate with each other, the way we campaign, the way we do business, and the way we get our news.  I don’t think anyone can fully comprehend where social media will be at the time the next Presidential election comes around.  The more people make bold moves like Bloomberg, the faster social media will progress.

Read more about it here:

http://www.politickerny.com/3593/bloombergs-facebook-supporters-thompsons-facebook-friends

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.

Cory Booker Taking Mayoral Race On Twitter | 18,000 Followers

How fast do you think you can increase your number of followers on Twitter as a politician? Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey has proven that it can be fast. Thousands overnight. One of Cory Booker’s followers on Twitter mentioned:

“Wow! @CoryBooker your follower count tripled over the weekend! Nice work — it’s very exciting to see our mayor engage in social media!”

Here is a mayor who “gets it.” He is utilizing Twitter the right way. He isn’t the type of politician that just has someone else throw up some news releases. Instead of having one of his employees manage his tweets, he tweets personally by using his BlackBerry. He tells you what he is doing and thinking, and also informs the public about events they ought to attend. If you visit his Twitter account you will find several examples of this:

“RT @MayorHealy @CoryBooker will be campaigning with me 2day at 5pm! U can meet us and some of the Healy Team at the Grove St. PATH station.”

“Now I’m late, racing back to Newark. Don’t worry New Jersey – I’m wearing my seat belt.”

“JusGav my 1stGradSpeechOfSeason:NYU Schoolof Cont n ProfesStudies.Spoke of practical need 4us2 courageously live r truth n love without fear”

As a result of utilizing Twitter properly, he currently has over 18,000 followers. According to the tweet by one of his followers, that number is the result of it tripling over the weekend. That is impressive. Just another excellent example of local politicians using social media to communicate with their constituents. This is a lot better than the mayor that he campaigned with according to his tweet mentioned earlier. Jerramiah Healy, the mayor of Jersey City, is only being followed by 20 people and is only following 8. That is absolutely pathetic! Give me a break! Is that really the best he can do! This is complete negligence on his part. This man doesn’t even have anyone do it for him. To top that all off, he only has 3 updates. Again, that is ridiculous. I don’t care if he was new to Twitter. Any politician can do better than that.

Hopefully we all can be more like Cory Booker and less like Jerramiah Healy. Use social networking the right way!

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Top 10 Not So Popular social networking sites in 2009

Interesting post considering I’ve only heard of MeetUp.com from this list of the “not so popular social networking sites.”  We spend most of our time just writing about Facebook, Twitter, MySpace (not so much me), LinkedIn, and a few others that we forget about what I call, niche networks.

There are thousands of social networking sites out there.  It’s amazing, really.  As a politician you cannot just rely on a handful of major social media sites.  Yes, you need to use the big ones but this doesn’t mean you avoid the small ones.  Think like a business.  A cash cow is most likely to be in a niche market with a lot of barriers to competition.  In other words, you as a politician, need to identify what you niche markets are and OWN them.  Again, I don’t me own as in posess them, I mean own them by building the network around you or an idea that you support.

Niche networks have been the thing for a while now.  As a matter of fact these networks get incredibly targeted to things like, professional surfers, high school sports coaches, etc.  There has to be at least one niche network you can use to build a community.  Look at this list.  Again, I’ve never used any except MeetUp.com.  Maybe one of these is the way to go.  Your reach is limited but your influence can be more powerful and bleed into other networks as well because it’s very likely these users are on other networks.

Social media is not limited to just the big sites.  As a matter of fact, SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT LIMITED, PERIOD.  Rather, it’s limitless.  Go out there and aggresively find your constituents.  Find people that will believe in you.  Find pepole that will support and stand up for you.  Find people that will build your grassroots movement into a viral explosion on the web.

Here’s a cool link to a website that lists a TON of social networking sites.  This is a good place to start. http://www.go2web20.net/

Read the Top 10 article here:

http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/top-10-not-so-popular-social-networking-sites-in-2009

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