Social+Media

__**History of Social Media**__
Social media and networking helps keep people informed about what is going on around them. People can be reached through mass media channels, such as newspapers, television, and radio, but social media allows for more of a person-to-person interaction.

S ocial media networking has been in existence for about 30 years. It has recently become popularized and even become part of the business world, as well as allowing networking among average people. Social media started on the phone and started gaining grounds in 1950. In the early days, the social media explorers built boxes which were converted into homemade electronic devices that they used in making free calls. Some people also considered the dating sites as the first early social networks. These sites allow the users to post their profiles online to contact other users. 2

Today, social media has become an important part of modern society. There i s a variety of social media sites available today that people use and enjoy. A few of the most popular ones are Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and Linkedln.

**Linkedln** - Founded in 2003, it was the first social network devoted solely to the business world. It allows users to post profiles, resumes, and to make contact with people through private messaging.

**Myspace** - Also founded in 2003, has grown to be very popular in today's world. It allows  users to write their profiles in the way they like to suit their purposes. Users can also add videos from other sites to their profile.

**Facebook -** Began in 2004. It started at Harvard University. Today it has grown and spread among other colleges, even high schools and businesses. By 2008, Facebook had become the most popular social networking site in the world.

**Twitter** - Created in 2006. Twitter allows the users to send and read text-based posts up to 140 characters. T witter too gained worldwide recognition since its inception. 1

Social media networking has gained a lot of ground in today's world.


 * __ Future of Social Media and Networking __**

 What is the future of social networking? Is it just a fad or has it become so integrated into our lives that it is a part of us? In a world that becomes increasingly digital every day I think it’s safe to say that social networking is here to stay regardless of which site has our current attention.

Analysts have many predictions as to where sites like Facebook and Twitter are going to take us in the future. Some believe that our real life actions will integrate with our social networks even further. We can already tag where we currently are with services like foursquare or Facebook’s check-ins feature. There are several apps that allow you to track and post your workout progress in real time. With the growing number of iPhone and Android users, applications like these allow instantaneous updates on whatever it is we could possibly be doing at any one moment. The integration of social networking with our phones has grown on Facebook alone by 50% over the last year and will, without a doubt, continue to grow and play an even larger role in how we use a site like Facebook. By all means, the future of social networking lies in mobile use. 4


 * ** Frequency of Use and Method of Access for Mobile Social Networking/Blog Audience **

**3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2010**

**Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ (Smartphone and Non-Smartphone)**

**Source: comScore MobiLens** ||
 * |||||| ** Total Audience (000) ** ||
 * ^  || ** Aug-2010 ** || ** Aug-2011 ** || ** % Change ** ||
 * Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog Ever in Month || 52,733 || 72,252 || 37% ||
 * Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog Almost Every Day || 25,272 || 39,854 || 58% ||
 * Social networking Access Method: ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Via Mobile Browser || 34,192 || 42,251 || 24% ||
 * Via Application || 17,002 || 38,453 || 126% ||


 * ** Audience* for Selected Social Networking Brands **

**3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2011**

**Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ (Smartphone and Non-Smartphone)**

**Source: comScore MobiLens** ||
 * |||||| ** Total Audience (000) ** ||
 * ^  || ** Aug-2010 ** || ** Aug-2011 ** || ** % Change ** ||
 * Facebook || 38,240 || 57,332 || 50% ||
 * Twitter || 7,639 || 13,375 || 75% ||
 * LinkedIn || 3,234 || 5,482 || 69% ||


 * ** Mobile Social Networking Activities **

**3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2011**

**Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ (Smartphone and Non-Smartphone)**

**Source: comScore MobiLens** ||
 * || ** Total Social Networking/Blog Audience **

**(000)** || ** % of Social Networking/Blog Audience ** || //*All graphs taken from 5 //
 * Total Audience Accessing Social Networking Sites or Blogs: 13+ yrs old || 72,252 || 100.0% ||
 * Read posts from people known personally || 58,021 || 80.3% ||
 * Posted status update || 50,216 || 69.5% ||
 * Followed posted link to website || 38,431 || 53.2% ||
 * Read posts from organizations/brands/events || 38,209 || 52.9% ||
 * Read posts from public figures/celebrities || 32,350 || 44.8% ||
 * Posted link to website || 25,172 || 34.8% ||
 * Received coupon/offer/deal || 24,071 || 33.3% ||
 * Clicked on advertisement || 19,997 || 27.7% ||

Facebook plans for the future seem to involve working more with marketers using the site’s Marketplace. It would also seem that they have plans to work more with mobile users with the growing numbers they’ve seen in that demographic. The company has already introduced new features like a news ticker and a redesigned chat window this year among other updates, and I’m sure we will continue to see them tweak existing features and page layouts several times over coming years. 6

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Myspace is planning a complete relaunch in 2012 thanks to work from Justin Timberlake who is now a part owner of the website. The relaunch of Myspace will focus on turning it into, what the actor has called, an “entertainment hub”. Perhaps this could be the fresh start that brings Myspace back to the forefront of the social networking scene or it could be a too little, too late. 7

The internet is an ever-changing entity and as an extension so is social networking. Sites will continue to change and innovate to compete with each other and new sites will start up all the time just to try to grab a piece of the pie. The future of social networking is hard to predict but exciting to anticipate.

[1] ["Twitter", wikipedia.com, available from [], accessed 6 November 2011.]

[2] [Brett Borders, "A Brief History of Social Media", copybrighter.com, available from [], accessed 6 November 2011.]

[3] [Cameron Chapman, "The History and Evolution of Social Media", webdesignerdepot.com, available from http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/10/the-history-and-evolution-of-social-media/, accessed 6 November 2011.]

[4] [Farhad Manjoo, "Is Facebook a Fad?", slate.com, available from [], accessed 7 November 2011.]

[5] [ Carmela Aquino, " Social Networking On-The-Go: U.S. Mobile Social Media Audience Grows 37 Percent in the Past Year ", comscore.com, available from [| http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/10/Social_Networking_On-The-Go_U.S._Mobile_Social_Media_Audience_Grows_37_Percent_in_the_Past_Year] , accessed 7 November 2011.]

[6] [MediaComGlobal, "FaceBooks Planes for 2012", YouTube.com, available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOaB74plVJ0, accessed 7 November 2011.]

[7] [Mayer Nissim, " Justin Timberlake plans 2012 MySpace relaunch ", digitalspy.com, available from http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a348534/justin-timberlake-plans-2012-myspace-relaunch.html, accessed 6 November 2011.]

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