February 22, 2010 by Kevin O'Keefe

Americans time spent on social media sites up 210% in 2009

Led by Facebook and Twitter, time spent globally on social media sites was up 82% in 2009. Time spent by Americans increased by 210%. This from a social media study from the Nielsen Company.

Time spend on social media

Eye opening findings from the study include:

  • Social networks and blogs are the most popular online category when ranked by average time spent.
  • Americans spend more time on blogs and social networking sites with total minutes increasing 210% year-over-year and the average time per person increasing 143% year-over-year in December 2009.
  • Facebook was the No. 1 global social networking destination.
  • The time spent by users on Facebook has increased to six hours per month.
  • The time spent by U.S. users, for both Facebook and Twitter.com, outpaced the overall growth for the category, increasing 200% and 368%, respectively.
  • Among the top five U.S. social networking sites, Twitter continued as the fastest-growing in terms of unique visitors, increasing 579% year-over-year, from 2.7 million unique visitors in December 2008 to 18.1 million in December 2009.

Where Americans are spending their time is clearly depicted in the below graph.

top social media sites

And 45% of US law firms block the use of social media and social networking sites in the work place?

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September 26, 2009 by Kevin O'Keefe

Americans use of social networking and blog sites triples in last year

Hat tip to Joe Trippi who turned me onto a new report from The Nielsen Company that Americans have nearly tripled the amount of time they spend at social networking and blog sites from a year ago.

Per Jon Gibs, vice president, media and agency insights, Nielsen's online division:

This growth suggests a wholesale change in the way the Internet is used. While video and text content remain central to the Web experience - the desire of online consumers to connect, communicate and share is increasingly driving the medium's growth.

Those spending money on the net - advertisers are taking note of this trend, big time.

Estimated online advertising spending on the top social network and blogging sites increased 119 percent, from approximately $49 million in August 2008 to approximately $108 million in August 2009 - all despite a recession. Share of estimated spend on these sites has doubled, from 7 percent of online ad spend in 2008 to 15 percent in 2009.

What does this mean for lawyers and law firms? One, don't think for a minute blogs are a passing fad. Not, only are blogs here to stay, the use of blogs by your target audience is increasing.

Second, a website, combined with directory listings, is not going to give you an effective Internet presence. Americans use of such sites is on the decline. You need to create a compelling Web base to attract your target audience - a blog. And you need to start networking with your target audience of clients, prospective clients, referral sources, and their influencers via social networking sites and blogs.

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