Facebook is huge. Depending on the day, it is the most visited site in the US (an accomplishment that Facebook recently achieved for the first time during Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years’ Day at the end of 2009). Yet despite all the Facebook success and its integration into mainstream culture, there are still some misunderstandings about the people that use facebook.
Just yesterday I was having a conversation with someone about Facebook in which a comment was made that “kids and younger people are the ones that really use Facebook”. It wasn’t the first time I’ve heard this perspective come up in conversation. When it does, I do my best to dispel the myth with the most recent demographics statistics and trends. Often times I’m asked to share that information afterwards. So, I’m writing this post to help avoid the need to explain myself over and over again, and instead direct people here. With that all out of the way, here is the most recent data (as of 1/1/10) on Facebook that you can use to enlighten yourself and others on just who uses Facebook and where they come from.
1) Facebook.com average user figures:
Average user has 130 friends on the site
Average user sends 8 friend requests per month
Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook
Average user clicks the Like button on 9 pieces of content each month
Average user writes 25 comments on Facebook content each month
As the chart above illustrates, the total US Facebook population is made up of millions of people across a range of ages groups. While young adults (18-25) lead the way with a combined ~27 million users, the 26-34 group is close behind with ~21 million users. According to the data above there a combined ~18 million people over the age of 45 active on Facebook. These are impressive user numbers from an older demographic that continue to grow.
I’ve aggregated data from several different sources for this post, and as you can see there is considerable participation on Facebook from all age groups. Hopefully you can use this information going forward to dispel the youth myth too.
UPDATE 12/16 @9:32 p.m. Time for a final update about Chris and Jamie. Chris was overwhelmed and grateful for the extremely generous show of support by everyone who contributed. The money was a tremendous help in covering medical and funeral costs. I cannot thank everyone enough for their efforts in helping this family during a time of need. Your efforts have not and will not be forgotten. Please continue to keep Chris and Gavin in your thoughts. Thank you!
UPDATE 10/30 @ 10:02 a.m.: Chris and Jamie’s local news organization has run a story about her situation, with more details. You can find it online here at The Tennessean website.
UPDATE 10/29 @ 3:13 p.m.: I just received terrible news that despite best efforts and Jamie’s constant fighting to survive, it was not enough. She has passed away. Thank you everyone for all your prayers, donations and kind wishes. I ask you to continue to spread the word and donate if possible, her family needs help now more than ever.
I’ve been active in social media and writing on this blog for some time now and have never asked for something like this. I can only hope that I’ve earned enough trust and credibility to be able to ask for something back from you. You see, a terrible has happened to someone I know, and she needs all the help we can muster. Meet Jamie Loveless
Above is a picture of Jamie and her family. Husband Chris and 9 month old son Gavin. They were recently on vacation as a family in Florida, when Jamie became sick with respiratory problems. Jamie was taken the the emergency room, and eventually diagnosed with a severe case of H1N1 flu (aka swine flu). She was initially given a 10-15% chance of survival during her first night at the hospital. Her lungs filled with fluid, and she was put on a ventilator. Incredibly, she made it through the night. Now, her condition has improved slightly, and her probability of survival has increased but she’s far from recovering. She’s still experiencing multiple organ failures, relying on a ventilator to breathe, and is sedated. She needs a miracle to survive, and her family needs other support to help them get through this terrible ordeal.
Chris and Jamie live in Nashville, TN, and will be forced to stay in Florida for several weeks at the very least. This means they are unable to work, and face rising medical bills, lodging, food and transportation expenses.
I know this is one of the worst times to ask for help, given the economic and employment challenges we face. However, many people that know Jamie are doing what they can to help. Some have provided donations for expenses, others free lodging and other assistance. That’s what I’m asking. Please help if you can. We’ve committed to giving, diverting funds from other places. I’m asking if you could think about doing the same. Or at the very least, helping get the word out about this. We are looking to raise 5k for Jamie and her family. Enough so that her family doesn’t have to worry about how to pay for the medical care that is crucial to saving Jamie’s life.
Please consider helping in one or more of the following ways:
1. Giving whatever you can by donating at this Chipin link (“Chip in” uses Pay Pal and it’s very easy to donate and it’s secure)
2. Spread the word. Please, please blog this, Facebook share this, tweet this, re-tweet this.
3. Help find a donor (maybe a generous company or individual)
I don’t have anything to offer back other. Zero. Zilch. Not a top donor list or fancy recognition. All I can offer is the satisfaction of knowing you helped make a difference to someone not currently able to help themselves. I’ve seen the incredible power of “community” at work before in times of need, like when David Armano put out the call to help Daniela. I’m simply hoping the community has a little bit more left to give to, literally, a life and death situation.
Respectfully,
Ken Burbary and friends of Jamie & Chris Loveless
PS, if you don’t feel comfortable using Pay Pal, please e-mail us here and we’ll figure it out. And thank you.
For several months, social media measurement and analytics pro Chuck Hemann and I have been thinking and talking about the many benefits of social media monitoring, a.k.a. listening to the online voice of your customers. Historically, most of the discussion on this topic centers around using monitoring as a reputation/crisis management tool, but that’s just scratching the surface of the potential uses and benefits. Instead we believe that the ever growing gigabytes of data generated as a result of social media participation is a customer data goldmine, waiting to be tapped.
Strategic Listening
Companies need to start thinking about taking advantage of the tools, technologies, and data available to drive improvements across many aspects of their business. If you work in product development, strategic planning, corporate communications, marketing, advertising, customer care, sales, or any discipline that touches the customer experience, then it is imperative that you begin using the insights from the social web to better inform your strategies, improve your products/services/business operations, and improve your customer satisfaction.
Over the last month I’ve worked with Chuck to create a new graphic that helps illustrate how social analytics (discovery, collection, analysis and segmentation) of data from the social web can make its way through, and be used by the different business functions that exist in most companies.
Social Analytics Lifecycle
Click the image to download a higher res version on Flickr
This version of the Social Analytics Lifecycle is just the beginning, as we expect it to grow and change after discussions with other companies about how they should go about implementing strategic listening programs. We’re excited about the possibilities, please enjoy this visual representation and let me know how you’d like to see it evolve.
