Over the next few weeks, OPLIN staff (mostly Laura Solomon) will be presenting programs at several Ohio Library Council Chapter Conferences about how libraries can use social media effectively. One of the most popular venues for libraries in the social media world is undoubtedly Facebook, which now claims to have more than 600 million active users. With that many people using Facebook, it was inevitable that it would become the subject of social research projects. Today we look at results of four recent Facebook studies that we thought might be interesting to our readers.
- Young users hating on brands (Brandweek/Mike Shields) “According to a new report from Forrester Research, just 6 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds who use the Web desire to be friends with a brand on Facebook—despite the fact that half of this demographic uses the site. Among Web-connected 18- to 24-year-olds that figure does double—meaning that 12 percent of that demo is OK with befriending brands—though the vast majority of young adults are not, per Forrester. Even scarier for brands: Young people don’t want brands’ friendship, and they think brands should go away.”
- Australian study links Facebook use with narcissism (Miller-McCune/Tom Jacobs) “Among Facebook users, the amount of time spent on the site per day varied widely. Seventeen percent of users reported they spent 10 minutes or less, 24 percent between 10 and 30 minutes, 23 percent between 31 and 60 minutes, 17 percent between one and two hours, and 19 percent two hours or more.”
- Facebook more popular than porn for UK users (BBC Newsbeat/Dan Whitworth) “The internet research company [Experian Hitwise] says that in January sites like Facebook accounted for 12.46% of all online traffic. That’s the equivalent of 2.4 billion hits or one eighth of all web visits. In comparison entertainment websites, including pornographic ones, accounted for 12.18% of traffic. It’s the first time social networking has overtaken entertainment in terms of popularity. Of those, social network site Facebook accounted for more than half, or 56%, of visits.”
- Subscribers, fans, & followers: The Social Break-Up (ExactTarget blog/Kristeen Hudson) “If the company fails any of these relationship tests, a ‘social break-up’—i.e., an ‘unsubscribe,’ ‘unfan,’ ‘unlike,’ or ‘unfollow’—is all but inevitable. When the consumer is no longer happy in the relationship, they will actively break off contact with the company…or just ignore their communications in the hopes the company will get the message that it’s over.”
Directory fact:
OPLIN maintains a directory of Ohio public library Facebook sites. If your library site is not on the list, please contact us.
