One of the enduring myths about social media and social networking services is that they’re the preserve of teens and tweens, (nevermind that most Facebook users are older than 35). This new study from eMarketer puts another deserved nail in that coffin:

Last year, the social network audience widened sharply beyond the base of teens and young adults who popularized the activity. This year, 59.2% of adult Internet users will visit social networks monthly, up from 52.4% in 2009.

via Two-Thirds of Web Users to Visit Soc Nets in 2014 - eMarketer.

I’m at Mesh 2010, “Canada’s Web Conference” at MaRS Collaboration Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday May 18 and 19. I’ll be posting updates periodically over the course of the conference.

Mark’s full presentation is available on his blog: http://www.swag20.com/?p=371

I’m at Mesh 2010, “Canada’s Web Conference” at MaRS Collaboration Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday May 18 and 19. I’ll be posting updates periodically over the course of the conference.

Maggie Fox is Founder and President of Social Media Group

• as a marketer, you need to think and act like a media company. Problem: your content sucks
• marketers need to create great content to be able to compete for fragmented attention
• great content = “social object” that gets us all talking
• connecting social media spaces, providing supports to staff and working quickly are keys to driving significant business results from social media
• integrating PR, advertising and own social media channels key to building significant scale in order to drive major business results

Kent’s commentary:

Maggie’s sort of missing the point in many ways. She’s viewing social media as a storytelling medium and not as a conversation medium. She’s missing the whole long-term engagement piece and focussing on building audience. And the whole “social object” model sounds like different words to describe the illusive “viral video campaign” that so many agencies misguidedly chase.

Which doesn’t necessarily mean that this is bad marketing strategy, but, as Maggie says, “this is really an adaptation of a mass media approach,” it’s not so much a social media strategy. And there’s a danger that if you primarily use social media — twitter, facebook, etc — as a syndication channel for your message, your community is going to tune you out and view you as the bore at the party.

I’m at Mesh 2010, “Canada’s Web Conference” at MaRS Collaboration Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday May 18 and 19. I’ll be posting updates periodically over the course of the conference.

Arvind Rajan is LinkedIn’s VP responsible for initiatives in markets outside the US and Europe:

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