Social Behavior in 2010
The growing number of older than traditional users, Twitter's ongoing evolution, and the way users view their online and offline lives will all be shaping potential social media behaviors for the coming year.
An ongoing trend during 2009 has been the graying of the social media as more and more users in their 30s, 40s, and 50s begin to participate.
This trend should continue and become even more widely spread in 2010, especially among users in their 50s.
These users have come to appreciate the power that social media provides them as a means to connect or reconnect with friends and family.
This trend toward more mature users will also influence online advertising.
Marketers will now have a completely new market that can be targeted via social media.
Of all the social media sites, Facebook is benefiting the most from the influx of mature users to the social media realm.
Facebook offers a relatively easy to understand means for these users to get started, enabling them to share pictures and communicate with long-lost friends.
MySpace will continue to be more focused on entertainment and younger demographics.
And it remains a good fit for those specific user demographics.
For older users, however, MySpace's level of customization makes it a less attractive fit.
Facebook's straightforward step-by-step explanation of how to get started and lessened amount of customization makes it more of an appealing match than MySpace for this growing set of social media participants, both now and in 2010.
Twitter's appeal for all demos is expected to continue to grow in 2010.
Twitter should move closer to finally making more money than it spends in the coming year as well.
Hopefully, the site will be able to fix all the various quirks that currently bog it down (e.
g.
, having periods when traffic is so heavy that it forces service shutdowns).
Reducing the growing amount of spam on the site is another issue Twitter will need to address going forward.
Despite these problems, however, Twitter should become more widespread and accepted in the year ahead as its purpose-that it's not just for telling people where you are and what you are doing-is better understood by the general user.
A better sense of how to use Twitter may be a user behavior that will impact that specific form of social media but other potential user behavior changes might impact all forms of social media.
The time expectation involved with the use of social media, for example, may show signs of evolving in users' minds in the coming year.
With so many social media venues that they are committed to using, users may reach a point where they don't have enough hours in the day to respond to every post or update they receive in a timely manner.
The amount of information users will be sharing will likely continue to grow but it will also likely become so great that users will have to consider if there is actually a differentiation between their personal lives and their online lives.
This decision will impact the way they use and participate in social media.
Regardless of the other trends shaping the coming year, there are still some social behaviors that brands will need to adhere to as they move into 2010: * Always, always listen.
Brands will still need to know what is going on in the social media conversation or else risk shooting themselves in the foot.
It remains vital for a brand to know what is going on and what the consumer buzz is.
By listening to the social chatter, a brand's marketing team can form its strategy.
* Branding consistency must be maintained.
No matter how many social sites a brand might have, no matter what forms its other marketing takes, a consistency in traits like tone, design, and content will remain key.
* Finally, a brand needs to remember that it doesn't need to respond to every post of comment made.
Everyone will have their opinions, so be sure to address them in a very respectful manner and never in a way that might hurt the brand.
Keep in mind that some users are out there to argue for the sake of arguing and will go on the attack simply for the sake of attacking.
Don't let your brand be sucked into such an anti-social social media behavior.
An ongoing trend during 2009 has been the graying of the social media as more and more users in their 30s, 40s, and 50s begin to participate.
This trend should continue and become even more widely spread in 2010, especially among users in their 50s.
These users have come to appreciate the power that social media provides them as a means to connect or reconnect with friends and family.
This trend toward more mature users will also influence online advertising.
Marketers will now have a completely new market that can be targeted via social media.
Of all the social media sites, Facebook is benefiting the most from the influx of mature users to the social media realm.
Facebook offers a relatively easy to understand means for these users to get started, enabling them to share pictures and communicate with long-lost friends.
MySpace will continue to be more focused on entertainment and younger demographics.
And it remains a good fit for those specific user demographics.
For older users, however, MySpace's level of customization makes it a less attractive fit.
Facebook's straightforward step-by-step explanation of how to get started and lessened amount of customization makes it more of an appealing match than MySpace for this growing set of social media participants, both now and in 2010.
Twitter's appeal for all demos is expected to continue to grow in 2010.
Twitter should move closer to finally making more money than it spends in the coming year as well.
Hopefully, the site will be able to fix all the various quirks that currently bog it down (e.
g.
, having periods when traffic is so heavy that it forces service shutdowns).
Reducing the growing amount of spam on the site is another issue Twitter will need to address going forward.
Despite these problems, however, Twitter should become more widespread and accepted in the year ahead as its purpose-that it's not just for telling people where you are and what you are doing-is better understood by the general user.
A better sense of how to use Twitter may be a user behavior that will impact that specific form of social media but other potential user behavior changes might impact all forms of social media.
The time expectation involved with the use of social media, for example, may show signs of evolving in users' minds in the coming year.
With so many social media venues that they are committed to using, users may reach a point where they don't have enough hours in the day to respond to every post or update they receive in a timely manner.
The amount of information users will be sharing will likely continue to grow but it will also likely become so great that users will have to consider if there is actually a differentiation between their personal lives and their online lives.
This decision will impact the way they use and participate in social media.
Regardless of the other trends shaping the coming year, there are still some social behaviors that brands will need to adhere to as they move into 2010: * Always, always listen.
Brands will still need to know what is going on in the social media conversation or else risk shooting themselves in the foot.
It remains vital for a brand to know what is going on and what the consumer buzz is.
By listening to the social chatter, a brand's marketing team can form its strategy.
* Branding consistency must be maintained.
No matter how many social sites a brand might have, no matter what forms its other marketing takes, a consistency in traits like tone, design, and content will remain key.
* Finally, a brand needs to remember that it doesn't need to respond to every post of comment made.
Everyone will have their opinions, so be sure to address them in a very respectful manner and never in a way that might hurt the brand.
Keep in mind that some users are out there to argue for the sake of arguing and will go on the attack simply for the sake of attacking.
Don't let your brand be sucked into such an anti-social social media behavior.