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A new report by Strategy Analytics claims that roughly one out of every 6 people on the face of the earth will be using social media in 5 years. The report also adds that there are currently approximately 373 million people using social media.
“It is clear that user generated media will increasingly compete with professional media when it comes to the attention and free time of users,” comments Martin Olausson, Director of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics. “However, if professional media companies choose to embrace social media applications it will enable a more direct and positive relationship with consumers, which will in turn drive increased engagement and loyalty.”
If the report's estimates are proven to be accurate, it poses some interesting questions. Will there be more social media channels available? Will blogs continue to grow? What about podcasts? If there are 3 times as many social media users in 5 years, then there will no doubt be much more content being created. How will we cope? What will be our filters? Will there still be a MySpace? Facebook? Twitter?
Then again, it seems hard enough to predict what the social media landscape will look like 5 months from now, much less 5 years!
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Comments
Maybe it'll be like cell phones and email, as so many more people get into various forms of social media. I don't know how many more people can blog, though, or most will end up talking pretty much to themselves. But something will come along -- Twitter or who knows what -- that will get the masses involved as a way to communicate. I think it's all about communication. And wait till companies get onboard in a big way. That should be interesting.
Posted by: David Reich "my 2 cents" | 12.14.07
Or how different would marketing look if by 2012, 60% of the Fortune 500 companies are blogging, and doing so successfully?
Posted by: Mack Collier | 12.14.07
Mack,
So true! Before we can estimate the number of social media users in the future, we need to get a grasp of what social media will be. And who can do that?
Excellent post. Brief and you ask the right questions. Good job, my friend!
Posted by: Lewis Green | 12.14.07
How in depth should companies get into blogging and social media?
I do marketing for a b2b distributor and wonder if we need to lead the charge on social media or do we let the b2c companies rule that medium?
Posted by: Jessica Hunter | 12.14.07
"How in depth should companies get into blogging and social media?"
Jessica I don't think the actual blogging is the big deal for companies. I think the ancillary benefits are what count. Blogging can change a company's culture to be much open and transparent. And I think you will start to see this happening in the coming years as more and more executives inside companies will be familiar with these tools, and will push for change from within.
And to your point, I agree that you can probably make a bigger dent in the b2c or even c2c realms, but anything that leads to both ends of the channel better understanding one another is a good thing.
Lewis: Thanks!
Posted by: Mack Collier | 12.14.07
I read that there are over 100 million ex-bloggers, too. My nine-year old has registered and abandoned about a dozen (although his personal blog and his seven week old brother's are both doing great).
If we want "social media" to mean "reading material generated by someone other than a professional writer employed by a media company" then sure, lots of people will be involved (right? Why not?).
I just hope they're not all blogging -- my RSS reader is full enough already.
Posted by: Stephen Denny | 12.14.07
It should be an interesting ride.
Posted by: geri | 12.15.07
"If we want "social media" to mean "reading material generated by someone other than a professional writer employed by a media company" then sure, lots of people will be involved (right? Why not?)."
I think we've already seen the bulk of the growth in blogging that we'll enjoy. It's incredibly easy to start blogging.
But creating a video or a podcast? Not so much. When the creation process gets easier, growth will flourish. I know the Flip camera is getting raving reviews because it apparently lets you quickly make videos and post them straight to YouTube.
We still need something for podcasting though, which remains a major pain in the RSS to create and edit (at least for me anyway).
Posted by: Mack Collier | 12.16.07
Hopefully all the energy crisis in various parts of the world would have been resolved so as to enable more people to power on a computer especially in parts of Asia, s,america and Africa.
Posted by: editor- oilandgaspress | 12.17.07
Has any conclusive research been done on the direct effects of blogging on online advertising. sure it increases exposure but does it actually generate sales.
Posted by: editor- oilandgaspress | 01.25.08