Creators – Social Media and Gender Part 2

I wanted to follow up my last post on social media and gender by sharing some new social media and gender information.  A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that of people who post online new videos and photos they created account for 46% of internet users.  People who repost videos and photos created by others account for 41% of internet users.

Studying these 87% percent of internet users, they found that 12% use Pinterest.  They also found that women prefer Pinterest and 19% of all women online use Pinterest. Does your agency target women as constituents, donors, or volunteers?  Pinterest might be the way to reach them.

What if you wanted to reach a younger audience?  The same study found that the same number of people use Instagram. more than one-quarter of all internet users aged 18-29 use it.  Sounds like Instagram may be a way to go if this is your audience.

Are you strategically considering demographics when choosing which social media tool to use?  You should.  It can mean the difference between reaching your targeted audience or speaking to an empty room.

photo from Suite 101

Checking In or Checking Out?

The Pew Internet Life Project has release a new study related to location-based check in services such as Gowalla, Foursquare and Facebook Places. It found that adults are 8 times less likely to use a location-based check-in application. Overall, 4% of Americans use location-based check-in tools.

What does that mean to you? It probably means that you should really consider who your target audience really is, and if they are using smartphones prior to embarking on a full fledged location-based program. If your target audience is comprised of younger adults who use smartphones then you should give more serious consideration to location-based check-in applications. If not, then perhaps you should use those energies in your other social media efforts.

If you want to revisit one of my previous posts on the launch of Facebook Places, visit it here.

image from NY Times

Future of Computing

Do you ever wonder about the future of computing and how social media may fit into it? There are quite a few web-based resources that you can access to read about predictions and research of the future that is happening now. I wanted to share some links with you that address this issue.

The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project studies has some very insightful research that you can read. Their research looks at how technology impacts the many different facets of our lives. Their newest report is a look at the status of cloud computing in 2020.

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Elon University’s Imagining the Internet project, which is a partner of the Pew Research Center, also has great research-based predictions of the future of technology and the internet. They also allow you to add your input on how you see the future of the internet.

A third resource is the New Media Consortium’s Emerging Technology Initiative. Their Horizon reports are annual reports deciphering future trends. These are definitely worth a read.

What are some of the resources you have used when looking at the future of technology? Please feel free to share them with others in the comments section.