New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

The Conventional View: Social media have moved into the mainstream, but many in the business world still typecast the typical user as young, Western, and more than likely completely self-absorbed.

My View: It’s a new year and a good time to think again—2012 is the year when social media will shatter these stereotypes.

Social media applications now account for the fourth most-popular online activity—and the first among active users, who spend more than five hours a week on social-networking sites. However, it’s not just the kids who are on Facebook and Twitter. Users ages 35 to 44 now spend 5.3 hours a week on social networking (compared with about 6.3 hours for people ages 18 to 43), while 45- to 54-year-olds spend almost five hours a week, and even those over 55 spend three.

It’s not just (or even predominantly) a Western phenomenon, either. In such countries as India, Indonesia, Turkey, Russia, and Brazil, which have relatively low Internet penetration, three-quarters or more of users are engaged in social networking. People in these developing economies are bypassing the traditional Internet and going “straight to social.”

“Social show-offs”—users who constantly post their status even when they have nothing new to say—are another overhyped stereotype. In fact, the majority of users simply check out their friends or send messages. Only one user in five updates his or her status daily, and fewer still link to their websites or blogs or use social media to meet new people.

Finally, social networks do make money. U.S. display-ad revenues on Facebook already far outpace those on Google, Yahoo!, and AOL, a trend that is expected to continue.

Social networks will come of age in 2012. Companies that ignore their impact—or operate on the basis of common misperceptions—do so at their peril. 

– Dominic Field, partner and managing director and global topic leader for the digital economy, Boston Consulting Group