This morning, GetElastic Blog emailed subscribers an infographic via OnlineSchools.com, which illustrated how people use Facebook.
To briefly summarize the infographic’s (on right) key points :
- 1 in 13 people on the planet are active on Facebook (500 mil total. Granted this number was tallied back in 2011, but even with a mass exodus or dip in excitement, that would still leave a sizable number of the world’s population on Facebook.)
- Nearly 50% (age 18-34) are checking FB first thing in the morning (many, on their smart phones).
- It’s not just for younger generations: 30% of FB users are 35+.
- 57% talk to users online more than they talk with others offline.
- Nearly half of young Americans are getting their news from FB.
- A 20 minute activity graph shows users sharing links,
creating event invites, accepting friend requests, uploading
photos, sending messages, tagging photos, writing wall posts,
commenting on posts, updating relationship statuses, etc. - FB was the most searched word in 2010.
It is a bit disappointing that in this age of rapid information availability and analysis, this infographic seems to be outdated by months or years (which is like centuries given the lightning speed at which paradigm shifts take place online, especially for marketers who feel that FB is on the wane). But these stats. should still hold true, at least for now, and be good reason not to blow FB marketing campaigns off in the near future. Facebook should be viewed as just another tool in the box or channel in the spectrum, as it were, to post on, but as we have warned in the past: diversify, diversify, diversify. Check out Pininterest, for instance.
It’s worth noting though that even if Facebook hasn’t changed, the saturation index has. We’re seeing where it is more difficult to get commercial messages in front of fans, especially when businesses are competing with friends and family during their limited “20 minutes of Facebook activity” a day. Most decent Facebook pages out there can only realistically expect a .5-1 % engagement rate, at best.
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