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The Effects of Social Media Culture 

Chapter 1 : The Rise of Social Media 

Facebook is the largest social network in the world with 500 million active users of whom 50% log in on a daily basis. So, there is no doubt that this website is an integral part of our lives and something that ultimately has effects on our 'off-line' lives. Some of the effects might be bigger than first presumed.

Stats

• Facebook was launched in February 2004 and had 1 million active users by December 2004
• Facebook has more than 500 million active users 
• Facebook had 50 million active users on October 2007 
• Facebook had 100 million active users on August 2008 
• 50 percent of @facebook active users log on in any given day
• An average @facebook user has 130 friends
• An average @facebook user spends 700 minutes per month on facebook
• More than 30 billion pieces of content are shared on facebook each month
• An average @facebook user creates 90 pieces of content each month 
• Each day, 50% of active @facebook users log in
• Each day, @facebook Pages have created 5.3 billion fans
• Each day, 55 million status updates are made on @facebook 
• Each day, 35 million people update their status on @facebook 
• Over 300,000 @facebook users helped translate the site to 70 available translations 
• About 70% of @facebook users are outside the United States 
• More than 150 million active users currently access @facebook through their mobile device
• There are more than 550,000 applications currently on @facebook platform

 

More Stats

Facebook Statistics	Data
Total number of active Facebook users	900 million
Total number of minutes spent on Facebook each month	700 billion
Percent of all Facebook users who log on in any given day	50 %
Percent of 18-34 year olds who check Facebook when they wake up	48 %
Percent of 18-34 year olds who check Facebook before they get out of bed	28 %
Average number of friends per facebook user	130
Average number of pages, groups, and events a user is connected to	80
Average number of photos uploaded per day	250
Global Facebook Reach Statistics
Number of languages available on the Facebook site	70
Percent of Facebook users who are outside the United States	75 %
Number of users who helped translate Facebook	300,000
Facebook Platform Statistics
Average number of aps installed on Facebook each day	20 million
Total number of apps and websites integrated with Facebook	7 million
Facebook Mobile Phone Statistics
Number of Facebook users who access the site through a mobile device	350 million
Every 20 Minutes on Facebook
Links shared	1 million
Friends requested	2 million
Messages sent	3 million

More Stats

1. Worldwide, there are over 950 million Facebook users.(Source: Facebook)  What this means for you: In case you had any lingering doubts, statistically, Facebook is too big to ignore.
2. 500 million people log onto Facebook daily, which represents a 48% increase from 2010 to 2011. (Source: The Social Skinny 2012)  The Implication: A huge and vastly growing number of Facebook users are active and consistent in their visits to the site, making them a promising audience for your marketing efforts.
3. In Europe, over 223 million people are on Facebook.(Source: Search Engine Journal)  The Takeaway: This isn’t just a U.S. phenomenon – a worldwide market is available via Facebook.
4. Age 25 to 34, at 29.7% of users, is the most common age demographic. (Source:Emarketer 2012)  What this eans for you: This is the prime target demographic for many businesses’ marketing efforts, and you have the change to engage these key consumers on Facebook.
5. Five new profiles are created every second. (Source: ALLFacebook 2012)  The Implication: Your potential audience on Facebook is growing exponentially.
6. Facebook users are 53% female and 47% male. (Source: Emarketer)  The Takeaway: Since this isn’t a large statistical difference, you should be able to effectively reach both genders on Facebook.
7. Highest traffic occurs mid-week between 1 to 3 pm. (Source: Bit.ly blog)  How this can help you: Since you have the potential to reach more consumers and drive higher traffic to your site during peak usage times, consider this statistic in determining when todo more frequent or important status updates, offers and other posts.
8. On Thursdays and Fridays, engagement is 18% higher. (Source: Bit.ly blog)  The Implication: Again, use this information to determine when to post in order to optimize your social media marketing efforts.
9. There are 83 million fake profiles. (Source: CNN)  The Takeaway: Nothing is perfect, so always remain thoughtful and strategic in your efforts. Also, fake or not, these are still potential consumers. There are various reasons for fake profiles, including professionals doing testing and research, and people who want to segment their Facebook use more than is possible with one account.
10. Photo uploads total 300 million per day. (Source: Gizmodo)  The Implication: Again, this is an indication of engaged users; also, it is an indication that there are a lot of photos, as well as other information, competing for users’ attention, so target your efforts strategically.
11. Average time spent per Facebook visit is 20 minutes. (Source: Infodocket)  What this means for you: You could have a short time period to make your impression, so use it wisely with relevant, interesting and unique posts and offers in order to get the most return on your efforts.
12. Every 60 seconds on Facebook: 510 comments are posted, 293,000 statuses are updated, and 136,000 photos are uploaded. (Source: The Social Skinny)  The Implication: Again, there are a lot of engaged and active users, but also a huge amount of information competing for their attention, so quality and strategy on your part matter.
13. 50% of 18-24 year-olds go on Facebook when they wake up. (Source: The Social Skinny)  What this means for you: Facebook is important to these users, and potentially, if done correctly, so is the content you post on it.
14. One in five page views in the United States occurs on Facebook. (Source: Infodocket 2012)  How this helps you: This is a huge market on the web; if you use social media marketing efforts on Facebook well, you could have huge returns to show for it.
15. 42% of marketers report that Facebook is critical or important to their business. (Source: State of Inbound Marketing 2012  The Takeaway: This is a crowded marketplace, but you can’t afford to sit it out, because odds are fairly high that your competition is there. The key is to use Facebook marketing correctly and make sure that your efforts stand out from the crowd.

Section 2 : The Psychology of Facebook

With the global sensation that is Facebook growing bigger and bigger every day, one can't help but wonder what makes is such a popular Social Networking website and why is it so alluring to the masses. By looking into the Psychology behind Facebook, we can start to reveal what it is that makes it so appealing. This can be achieved by theoretically unpicking the most common activities that occur daily on the website. There is an element of Satisfaction that makes us almost addicted to Social Media, and the satisfaction comes from the approval of others... 

Updating the Status

The Facebook Status is one of the most common occurrences within the network with 293,000 status' being updated every 60 seconds worldwide. A status is a short line of text which is generally used to tell the world how you are feeling or what you are doing but can be used to 'shout out' anything you want to. This will then appear on the 'newsfeed' of all the people who are connected to you, within the Network. 

You may wonder why anyone would even care about what you are doing or how you're feeling? But as social beings, we all have natural tendencies to crave connection with the rest of the world. When we send out a status, we are doing it with the knowledge that numerous people are going to acknowledge it and possibly even approve of it, which causes a heightened sense of satisfaction, even if this is all done subconsciously. Deep down, we know that our 'friends' will see whatever is written and it is this awareness that makes us want to get as much approval as possible in order to make us feel more secure in ourselves. 

Comments & Liking

It was found in a recent study, that the single most common activity on Facebook is commenting  on and liking other people's statuses. (http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks/Part-2/Facebook-activities.aspx)

A reason for this, could be the fact that we crave this feedback on our own status' so much, that this subconsciously makes us like what other people have to say as a sign of goodwill, knowing and hoping that this will probably be returned in some way. This is very much linking to Reciprocity, which is a common behaviour within social networks. This works in two ways; in response to friendly actions, people are generally much nicer an a lot more co-operative than initially and conversely, when hostile actions are brought upon them, they become much more brutal with their re-actions. 

Glossary 

Facebook Status : a short line of text which is generally used to tell the world how you are feeling or what you are doing but can be used to 'shout out' anything you want to. 

Reciprocity : A behaviour within Social Networks  :  In response to friendly actions, people are generally much nicer an a lot more co-operative than initially and conversely, when hostile actions are brought upon them, they become much more brutal with their re-actions.