W A V E 5 U S S O C I A L M E D I A R E P O R T

S L I D E S H A R E E X T R A C T

O c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

Welcome to the US Social Media Market Report: October 2011

The following is an extract from a “GlobalWebIndex Market Report” that provides a complete overview of consumer adoption of social media in the

United States. The five completed waves of the GlobalWebIndex research project since July 2009 have revealed the most detailed understanding of the

state of social media ever compiled. Building on that, this report explores social media adoption in the US across all key social platforms and compares

adoption levels in US to those in the Americas and globally (27 GWI Markets).

As one of our market reports, it contains a large volume of data, which is generated to provide you with a resource to apply to your work. We also

produce “Trend Reports” which are more focused on identifying themes in the way that consumers are adopting and using the internet. Some of these

themes are touched on in this report. However, the main aim is to provide a detailed and comprehensive view of American consumer adoption, so

insights are more focused on the micro level.

To access the full report visit: http://globalwebindex.net/report-page/wave-5-usa-social-media-report/

Social

Market

Overview

Social

Networking Blogging

Micro-

blogging

Forums /

BBS

Photo

Sharing

USA Americas Global

Video

Sharing

R E P O R T H I - L I G H T S

Key Insights

• Social media is a core part of how consumers use the internet in the US

and usage has reached an incredible level of maturity. Usage is growing

in older and laggard consumer segments, catching the younger groups

who pioneered adoption.

• Social networking and photo sharing are the leading online social

channels in the US.

• Social networking and video sharing are the fastest growing platforms.

• Product reviews, Q&A services and forums have the smallest differences

between young and old consumers.

• Despite the rise of Twitter, there are still 50% more bloggers in the US.

• There is massive diversity in behaviour between demographics. For

example, Hispanics are more active on social networks, higher income

groups on blogs, and urban segments (as opposed to suburban or rural

internet users) are more active across all platforms. This emphasises the

need to develop specific insights into how your target audience and

customers use social media.

• High income and education segments are more likely to drive adoption of

social media through mobile and tablets.

• There is shift to more passive usage of social networks with users

consuming content and interacting with brands but less likely to contribute

themselves. This is good news for marketers who want to develop a

content programme.

Online Actions / Behaviour (PC) Done In The Past Month US:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100% USA Wave1 - Jul 2009 USA Wave2 - Feb 2010 USA Wave3 - Sep 2010 USA Wave4 - Feb 2011 USA Wave5 - Jun 2011

Base: Wave 1 (Sep 2009)-5 June 2011

Question: Which of the following have you done online in the past month? – Have done.

We can see from the last five waves of data

on consumer internet behaviour that there

has been a very consistent access profile.

Crucially for social media, it is clear that it

is an integral part of how US internet users

engage online.

•Social networking is the lead point of

behaviour for contribution. It has been

growing, but seems to have peaked in

February 2011 (Wave 4);

•Instant Messenger has been the major looser

as internet users shift to networked

environments and mobile over peer to peer

devices. We also see a rise in people

messaging via VOIP;

•Microblogging in the US is stagnant in terms

of consumer adoption. This proves that most

of Twitter’s recent growth can be attributed to

international adoption;

•Webmail usage is still increasing despite the

hype about social networking messaging

replacing email;

•Blogs are declining, a pattern seen on a

global scale

Social Media – Core Demographic Overview

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Gender Male 21% 29% 47% 28% 41% 34% 8% 13% 12%

Female 22% 26% 55% 26% 42% 49% 5% 10% 12%

Age Groups

16 to 24 33% 35% 73% 37% 46% 63% 15% 25% 23%

25 to 34 23% 37% 67% 35% 45% 54% 11% 16% 16%

35 to 44 18% 28% 56% 25% 40% 41% 5% 11% 11%

45 to 54 20% 19% 36% 20% 40% 29% 2% 8% 8%

55 to 64 15% 19% 27% 19% 39% 27% 1% 2% 4%

Ethnicity

Asian/Pacific Islander 23% 35% 55% 38% 49% 50% 15% 23% 24%

Black/African American 32% 30% 50% 23% 48% 46% 6% 16% 16%

Hispanic 30% 34% 61% 30% 52% 56% 8% 23% 19%

White/Caucasian non Hispanic 20% 26% 50% 26% 40% 40% 6% 10% 10%

Marital Status

Single 26% 32% 59% 34% 44% 46% 11% 17% 16%

In a relationship 26% 30% 65% 31% 42% 51% 7% 16% 13%

Married 19% 25% 47% 23% 41% 40% 5% 9% 10%

Divorced/widowed 18% 22% 39% 24% 38% 27% 3% 8% 8%

Final Education Level

Schooling until age 16 30% 28% 49% 30% 46% 45% 10% 18% 14%

Schooling until age 18 21% 19% 48% 23% 46% 45% 3% 9% 8%

Trade/technical school or college 21% 25% 43% 25% 46% 37% 4% 9% 9%

University 22% 31% 58% 28% 43% 43% 9% 13% 14%

Post graduate 17% 34% 55% 32% 41% 44% 9% 14% 16%

Living Context

Rural context 18% 20% 47% 20% 41% 35% 4% 7% 10%

Suburban context 20% 27% 52% 27% 40% 43% 6% 12% 11%

Urban context 28% 34% 55% 34% 46% 47% 12% 17% 15%

Question: Question: Which of the following have you done online in the past month? – Have done, but not in the past month

Base: All Internet Users Wave 5 June 2011

Which Of The Following Sites Have You Visited In The Past Month?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Chatroom/forum A photo sharing website

Consumer review site

A blog/weblog A video sharing site A social networking website

Wave1 - Jul 2009 USA Wave2 - Feb 2010 USA Wave3 - Sep 2010 USA Wave4 - Feb 2011 USA Wave5 - Jun 2011 USA

Base: Wave 1 (Sep 2009)-5 June 2011

We can see from the last five waves of data

clear growth of social networking

Chatroom and forum visitation has declined

demonstrating the shift from old static social

into more networked real time platforms

Social video is still showing growth as an

access point

All platforms, with the exception of social

networking, demonstrate some seasonality in

access

Question: Which of the following sites have you visited in the past month? – Have done.

“Social Networking is saturated in the US and

behaviour is shifting into a more passive usage.

Visitation remains high, but users are doing less”

“Three platforms dominated, Facebook, MySpace and

LinkedIn. LinkedIn is showing significant growth and

Facebook has reached absolute market saturation”

“Mobile platforms are the key growth points and starting

to erode PC access”

“Sharing video content is growing, despite a fall in most

active activities”

Key Insights

A C C E S S T H E R E P O R T

What do you get?

• Access to the most detailed study ever conducted on how consumers use

social media

• A 104 page PPT report, containing a mix of data, graphs and insights into

market trends

• Overview of the US social media market, context in global mega trends,

deepdive into social networking, blogging, micro-blogging, forums and

photo sharing

• Comparisons to global markets, trends over time and splits by key

demographics, such as age, gender, education status, ethnicity, living

status, income, US state, children in household and urban status

• Includes one request for custom output from the GlobalWebIndex Analyst

team. This covers one question and one specific analysis (it could be any

of the 160 questions in the survey, not just what is covered in this report);

for example “I want to know what applications high income US consumers

are downloading” or “who writes blogs about music in the US”. This is

provided inside 24 hours, on proof of purchase, in PPT and excel format

• The option to utilise our analyst team on request, which enables you to

source any possible further insight as explored in this report. For a full list

of questions, visit: http://globalwebindex.net/explore-the-data/introduction/

Detailed Report Coverage

Question Variable Data Period Trend Audience

US Americas (

US + Canada + Mexico + Brazil + Argentina) Global

AGE GROUPS (US ONLY)

EDUCATION (US ONLY)

ETHNICITY (US ONLY)

INCOME (US ONLY)

REGION (US ONLY)

Social Web Behaviour/Actions Have Done All

Social Web Behaviour/Actions Have Done Wave 5

Social Web Behaviour/Actions Have done but not in

the last month Wave 5

Social Web Behaviour/Actions Never Done Wave 5

Social Web Behaviour/Actions Not Heard Of Wave 5

Access Points Wave 5

Blog Platforms Wave 5

Blog Platforms All

Blog Types of Content Post Wave 5

Blog Topics of Content Post Wave 5

Blog Frequency of Update All Wave 5

Blog Motivations Wave 5

Photo Sharing Motivations Wave 5

Detailed Report Coverage Continued

Question Variable Data

Period Trend Audience

US Americas

(US + Canada + Mexico + Brazil + Argentina) Global

AGE GROUPS (US ONLY)

EDUCATION (US ONLY)

ETHNICITY (US ONLY)

INCOME (US ONLY)

REGION (US ONLY)

Microblog Platforms All

Microblog Actions Wave 5

Microblog Frequency of Update All Wave 5

Microblog Motivations Wave 5

Social Network Platforms All

Social Network Platforms Wave 5

Social Network Activities All

Social Network Frequency of Update All Wave 5

Social Network Motivations Wave 5

Social Network Group Motivations Wave 4

Chat-rooms, Forums, Message Boards Platforms Wave 5

Chat-rooms, Forums, Message Boards Types Wave 5

Chat-rooms, Forums, Message Boards Types All

Chat-room, Forum, Msg Board Motivations Wave 5

Photo Sharing Platforms All

Photo Sharing Platforms Wave 5

Photo Sharing Motivations Wave 5

Who Is This Report For?

• Typical User:

– Social Media Marketer

– Communications planner

– Agency planner or research

– Researcher

– Business Owner

– Analysts

• Purpose:

– Developing US social media strategy

– Structuring your social media business

– Developing effective social media campaigns

– Making the case for social media investment

– Understanding the reality of US trends

• Types of questions it answers:

– What are the most popular social platforms in the US?

– What consumers are most active in certain platforms?

– How many US consumers are involved in social media?

– What states are most engaged?

– Should I be focusing on PC, or mobile channels?

– Do people still use MySpace?

– Should my brand really be on Twitter?

– How do people use social networks?

Customising the data set

• We understand the need for custom view of all data, so all purchasers of

this report can request a custom analysis of a specific question in this

report for no additional charge

• For example you may want to analyse which social network platforms are

used by people with a appetite for “high risk”, or people in “senior job

roles” or “buyers of haircare products”. It does not include specific brand

data, this can be supplied at a additional fee

• As the survey is extremely detailed, we can normally create any audience

or customer segment you can define

• This will be supplied to the purchaser within 24 hours in PPT and excel

format

• To make your data request contact the insight team on

globalwebindex@trendstream.net

Demographics

Attitudes

Employment

Purchasing

Any

Question

A B O U T T H E R E S E A R C H

“The most detailed research study

ever instigated into the consumer

adoption of the internet”

Delivered In All Key Internet Markets

Waves 1 - 4

Wave 5

Wave 6

Wave 7

Wave 8

Future Waves

Filling A Critical Knowledge Gap

100K+

surveys a

year

3 Waves of

Research

a Year

27 markets

in Wave 5

1000+

variables

to build an

audience

160

questions

on internet

and social

+ + +

Insight Creativity Strategy Planning R O I

+

• Self completion online Surveys

• Identical global survey – localised by language,

brands and examples

• 3 fieldwork periods a year

• Online representative sample that covers all access

points

• Fieldwork is executed by Lightspeed Research

(WPP)

• This data can only be sourced through surveys

PC Browser

Access

Mobile Access

TV Access

Tablet Access

Console Access

Research Universe: Methodology

Timeline: 3 Waves Per Year. USA Core Market From Wave 1 (Sep 2009)

Wave 1

(Sep

2009)

July

2009

Wave 2

Jan

2010

Wave 3

Sep

2010

Wave 4

Feb

2011

Wave 5

June

2011

Wave 6

Oct

2011

Wave 7

Feb

2011

16 Markets

16K Internet

Users

US: 2K

Internet

Users

16 Markets

16K Internet

Users

US: 2K

Internet

Users

18 Markets

18K Internet

Users

US: 2K

Internet

Users

22 Markets

21K Internet

Users

US: 2K

Internet

Users

27 Markets

23K Internet

Users

US: 2K

Internet

Users

30 Markets

27K Internet

Users

US: 2K

Internet

Users

33 Markets

31K Internet

Users

US: 4K

Internet

Users

Details On US Research Universe

110.29 101.91

Gender Split (m)

Female

Male

We estimate that there are 211m active (access once a month or more)

internet users aged 16-64 in the United States. This makes the US the

second biggest internet market in the world after China. However, the US

is a very mature market, which means the make up of the internet universe

is a very close mirror to the total population. Below are the sample splits as

estimated in universe figures.

37.62

40.96

48.85

45.48

39.28

Age Split (m)

16 to 24

25 to 34

35 to 44

45 to 54

55 to 64

66.07

9.09

44.06

66.46

26.53

Education Split (m)

Trade/technical school or college

Schooling until age 16

Schooling until age 18

University

Post graduate