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Every day, 41% of Facebook users and 27% of Twitter users log on to their pages, four out of ten doing so before they get dressed or have breakfast.3,4 Every day, 250 million updates are posted on Twitter, and more than 250 million photos are uploaded on Facebook.
Yet social networking is far more than sharing personal updates and photos. Increasingly, social networking is about individuals connecting with retailers and brands and sharing back their experiences with peers. This changing reality means that retailers and brands must aggressively create strategies to engage in this evolving and exciting space.
But first, retailers and brands must understand the dynamics of the social networking landscape. This will shed light on how to interact in the most positive way, which is critical to any company that hopes to build effective social networking communities and communication.
So it might be comforting to realize that the key to understanding this new landscape could be as easy as remembering experiences from adolescence—specifically, high school. The social web is very much like high school because:
- The people involved self-select into cliques and subgroups.
- What people say can shape a reputation—for good and bad.
- Boring people are often overlooked. Fun and exciting people attract a crowd.
- Users seek both individuals and the groups those individuals are a part of.
- Sometimes it’s inclusive; sometimes it’s exclusive.
Through the lens of high school, the complex nature of social networking appears to be more commonplace. Like high school, the social networking landscape is comprised of an eclectic mix of individuals who are rapidly changing and diversifying. Though most assume that young Millennials dominate social networking, older generations are actually the fastest-growing user segment. In 2009, approximately 40% of social networkers were over 35 years old. This population has experienced 20% to 35% growth in recent years and is expected to represent approximately 50% of users in 2013.
But because of its dynamic nature, the industry has not settled on one clear definition of the term social networking. Everyone has their own definition, and many defer to the online platforms (e.g., Facebook or Twitter) to address the overall social networking landscape. However, researchers and industry participants agree that there are nuances and distinctions regarding the social landscape, specifically when it comes to the difference between social networking and social media. Understanding these terms and definitions can help a brand or retailer start to see how and where they may consider strategically engaging.
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To create clarity and consistency throughout this report, we use these definitions:
Social Networking (Verb): "the act of using social media tools to connect, communicate or interact with others in a social manner."
Social Media: "the tools (e.g., social networks, blogs, etc.) that enable people to connect, create, disseminate, annotate or edit content online by":
- Enabling users to create a profile/persona
- Providing users with the ability to have two-way connections with others
It is important to understand that social networking is characterized by human behavior rather than the specific technology that creates the online space. However, technology is instrumental to the space because, at the most basic level, social media is a technological catalyst for social networking. Today’s social media is complex and ever advancing in seven rather distinct areas, including publication, sharing, discussion, commerce, location, networking and games, with Google® and Facebook at the center acting as cross-functional integration platforms. Social media can be segmented into the following distinct categories:
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The Evolution of the Social Web
Upon examining how the social web began, evolved and established itself in our culture, we identified three eras:
- The Invention Era (Mid To Late 1990s) - The social web began to surface during the mid-1990s with the launch of the first social networks equipped with personal profiles and “friend lists.” At this time, social networking was a “new invention,” an evolution of the Internet, which, to its credit, has been helping to connect us in new and interesting ways since the first email was sent in 1971.
- The Industrialization Era (2000 to 2006)- After the bubble and uneventful passing of Y2K, platforms including StumbleUpon® and MySpace® emerged on the social web. These platforms allowed users to seek friends from the lists of others and proactively grow their network. Soon to follow (in 2004) were platforms like LinkedIn®, Facebook and eventually Twitter (in 2006), which we now see as the modern-day social network name brands. During this time, the social web was industrializing and establishing itself as a linchpin in our culture.
- The Entrepreneurial Era (2006 to Present) - Over the last five years, much advancement has been made within the social web regarding user habits, platform style/functionality and network accessibility. This evolution embodies an entrepreneurial spirit, in that it has evolved and innovated the idea of what the social web is, how it can be used and a push to consider what it could be tomorrow. This entrepreneurial spirit has created a very fragmented yet highly integrated social web in which users are geared toward real-time, customized and often “snack size” consumption of content in tremendous volume. The Entrepreneurial Era brought us MeetUp®, Ning® and Google+®.
Each era embodies unique characteristics and builds on the past to continue to drive this dynamic landscape.
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The Role of Technology In Shaping The Social Web
Technological evolutions, including greater platform functionality and integration, application development and increased mobile accessibility, as well as new platform launches including Google+TM and Pinterest. Users can now utilize several different platforms and devices to tweet, upload an HD-quality video, search or review and navigate to a restaurant in the moment. And, to put it in perspective, these capabilities have been made possible only in the past few years.
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Though technology is complex and ever-evolving, it is more important to recognize that it is also driving, enhancing and evolving social networking. Many retailers and brands see this trend and tap in to various platforms and devices to explore new ways to connect with social networkers.
The social web has seen tremendous change in a short time. The beginnings of social networking were geared toward discovery but soon evolved to a multidimensional space with various platforms, user motives and devices. The entrepreneurial spirit as of late will likely lead to new dimensions of the social web and lead us to a new era of social networking.
The Forces Shaping The Social Web
The social web is made of human behavior and media tools, but which is driving the evolution of the space? We believe it is both. Evolution of the social web is the result of a cyclical, symbiotic relationship in which each party (in this case social networkers and developers) interact, influence and affect each other while also deriving benefits.
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Social networking behavior inspires developers to evolve platforms/technology, which in turn produces an advancement that is of use to the social networker and beneficial to the developer. However, technology/platform advancement alone does not imply success—because it is reliant on user demand. For example, Facebook users began to incorporate their location into status updates. Developers responded through app development and mobile phone advancements, which gave birth to geo-location-powered check-in functions like foursquare.
This evolution benefitted both parties and highlights an important strategic distinction for retailers and brands to consider moving forward—to not think about a strategy for a platform, but rather think about how to satisfy an unmet social need and use the appropriate platform to do so.
Drivers of Evolution and Future Trends of the Social Web
Though social networkers and developers are the foundational forces for evolution, four drivers in particular have shaped the social web of today and will continue to drive evolution moving forward.
- Behavioral Evolution - Human behavior is at the root of social networking. Therefore, it is not surprising that behavioral evolution drives change. As we humans evolve, grow and desire personal and unique experiences in real life, it is only natural that those demands be reflected online. One behavioral evolution of interest is the interaction between shoppers and brands. Consider this: if a brand had never created a page on Facebook or started a Twitter feed, users might have never recognized how they felt about the brand, what it means to them or why they would interact with a company. Conversely, now that brands are on the social web and learning what customers are really saying and what they really want, best practices online and off are changing. Brands are leveraging the social web as a real-time customer service-response unit, location-specific deal distributor and more.
- Specificity/Personalization - The desire for greater specificity and personalization goes hand-in-hand with behavioral evolution. By defining our own individuality and finding specific, personalized outlets, we ultimately aim to identify others with a common passion and derive deeper connections. The desire for specificity and personalization is prompting people to use more platforms targeted toward certain hobbies, certain groups, certain information or certain shopping perks. The desire for greater specificity and personalization has resulted in the creation of LinkedIn (social network for professionals), Pinterest (social network for pinning things), Badoo.com (first dating social network) and Twitter (news, information and publicity decimination)
- Simplicity - In recent years, the proliferation and advancement of mobile technology has helped users integrate and simplify all their social networking activities. Mobile apps, Facebook integration and push alerts are making it easier and simpler for us to connect. Developing newer, faster, one-click technology is a competitive advantage in that it helps make capturing or creating sharable content easier. The advancement of smartphones and tablets has elevated user capabilities even more. Consider this: to share a video a few years ago meant shooting footage with a specific video camera, connecting the camera to the computer, transferring the file and then uploading that file to the web. Now users can shoot HD-quality video with their phones and upload it wirelessly and instantly to the web to share.
- Technology Proliferation - New technology is driving simplicity and is proliferating and propelling change among social networkers. It is redefining how, when and where people fundamentally interact and operate. As of December 2011, computers are still the primary access point for social media. However, users are increasingly accessing social media through their mobile browsers. Traffic to social sites from mobile devices increased 21% over last year, and access via application increased 101%. Most social networkers (65%) use their mobile phones to connect to the social web because it gives them the freedom to access their network anywhere. However, 35% of respondents report that their primary reason to access the social web on their mobile is because it is also a fun and easy way to pass the time.
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COMMENTARY: Little did we know how within a period of twelve years, social media has transformed The Old Web into The Social Web. It's hard not to find the integration of social media within search results, on websites, blogs, display ads or even on traditional media like email or print publications. It's a rare instance when you won't encounter the "f", "blue bird" or G+ icon for Facebook, Twitter or Google+ to share a post or the Like button to comment approval of internet content. Hell, for some secure websites, you can only login using your Facebook or Twitter username and password. Having said this, the Social Web has made the Old Web more efficient by allowing consumers to share content without anyone on the plant, 24/7-365. Social has transfered the Old Web for better or for worst.
Stay tuned for Part II - Untangling The Social Web: Insights For Brands, Users and Retailers - Identifying The Allure of Social Networking: Traits, Behaviors and Motivators coming soon.
Courtesy of Untangling The Social Web: Insights For Brands, Users and Retailers by Coke Solutions and Integer
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