A couple of new studies emerged on the web this week. Razorfish launched its 5th annual 'Digital Outlook' study and Nielsen Online also released a report 'Global Faces and Networked places.'
Nielsen Online looks at the growing popularity of so-called 'member communities' (referring to social networks and blogs) and the global adoption of this media, which now represents one-tenth of all time spent online. One of its primary conclusions is the global popularity of member communities, ranking fourth across the online sector after search, portals and software applications. Crucially though, they now outrank personal email.
Another major finding is the rising popularity of member communities among older age groups. The 35-49 and 50-64 age groups are both seeing massive growth and driving the popularity of Facebook - now the 9th most popular brand online. Other recent studies have also emphasised this trend. Independent blog Inside Facebook revealed back in February that women over 55 represented the fastest growing demographic in the US market. iMedia Connection digs deeper and highlights the rising number of 'Moms' on social networks, including Facebook and MySpace, as well as a host of niche sites specifically targeting this lifestyle group. Razorfish itself produced an indepth study Digital Mom earlier this year, and was the recent subject of discussion on NBC. If you're looking for insight on social networking from a generational perspective, Pew Internet Research does a good job in this report.
You can check out the full Nielsen Online report here
Razorfish's Digital Outlook 2009 provides a much more analytical and broader perspective on social media as it relates to the changing nature of advertising and branding. The 180 pages cover an array of angles, pointing to where digital advertising is headed. Central to its theme is the rising importance of building experiences, against the old adage of 'producing great advertising,' and the untold potential of digital in creating those experiences. Its a guiding tool for advertisers and agencies, providing a benchmark on digital spend and strategy, and continuing its theory around Social Influence Marketing. As Razorfish outlines on their Digital Design Blog, the biggest takeaway perhaps is a flattening of spend in social media spend by major advertisers. You can check out the full report on the last link. In short, buckets of insight.
