Social Media Statistics and Why You Need to Get in the Game

Haven't utilized social media yet? You need to – and here's why:

With over 250 million active users on Facebook and over 120 million logging in each day, you cannot afford to not be on Facebook. It is the King of social media. You may be surprised to know that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is age 35 and over. So while your kids are chatting with their friends about what movie to go see and they try to find out what Muppet character they are through one of the hundreds of quizzes, remember that you can build a profitable business following by allowing people and other businesses to become your “fan”. If you are an international company, you are in luck, as over 70% of all Facebook users are from outside the United States.

In 2008, Twitter experienced 752 percent growth. They picked up a million unique visitors alone in December 2008. But guess what? Sixty percent of Twitter users quit within the first month. Why do so many quit? I think it is because most people do not understand how to use it to help their business. Also, let's face it, it can be tedious work! What you may not know is that there are fantastic tools that have been created by independent third-parties that, if utilized, can turn your Twitter campaigns on near auto-pilot. In June of 2009, there were a staggering 23 million unique visitors. I don't think Twitter is going away anytime soon. It is used by individuals, celebrities, big, and small companies alike. Contrary to popular belief, it is very sociable and can be very conversational. You just need to learn how to make it work for you.

Facebook or MySpace, you ask? In December of 2008, Facebook and MySpace each had about 59,000,000 people using their sites. Since then, Facebook has far surpassed MySapce to become the leader in the social media industry. In Januaray of 2009, Facebook ranked as the number one spot for social media, with almost 69,000,000 users. Today, Facebook garners 1.2 billion monthly visits while MySpace has about 80 million.

There are many other social media sites, and a few that are definitely worth engaging in. Start with Facebook and Twitter, for sure, and don't discount MySpace just because Facebook is growing and they are declining. There are still a staggering amount of users that you can get in front of.

Don't get left behind – you've got to grow with the times!