Is Social Media a Fad?

 by Lori Cunningham 

Last year I posted a really cool video I found online about The Digital Age.  It has some amazing statistics and facts about the online world and it’s progression.  It predicted that by 2020, the mobile phone will be the world’s primary connection tool to the Internet.  (To learn more about fast progression of web enabled phones, see my latest post on AT&T’s site, LosetheLaptop.com and please vote for me!)  This video was so popular that it earned more than 150 tweets on Twitter from the WellConnectedMom.com website.  

The same company that produced The Digital Age video has a new video, called, “Is Social Media a Fad?”  This is another well-done, fascinating video about how social media (ie Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs (like this one), etc.) are quickly becoming the main way of communicating online.  In fact, the video asserts that Generation Y & Z consider e-mail passé!  Generation Y will outnumber Baby Boomers this year — and 96% of them are social media users.  These times are a changing! 

The Nielsen Company as of Nov 2009, company-wide reports and surveys

More interesting facts from this video – there are so many Facebook users now that if Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest!  You can see by the chart to the left the rapid progression Facebook has had the past 3 years*.  

And what about search engines?  We all know that Google is the #1 search engine, but can you guess who’s in the #2 slot?  YouTube!  

*  The Nielsen Company as of Nov 2009, company-wide reports and surveys