The only way is up for social networking
Our latest research report from Future Foundation looks at social networking and features new forecast data and thoughts on where it is heading…
Ten years ago, the concept of socialising via the medium of a computer screen was considered the preserve of awkward teenagers and socially inept loners. With the exception of early models like Friendster in 2002, the majority of us were old fashioned in our social habits.
Fast forward to 2009 and the online revolution has transformed the way we communicate and organise our social lives.
We flip between last night’s EastEnders on iPlayer and a new photo album on Facebook, while downloading apps to keep up with the constant stream of Twitter consciousness. And with the latest innovations like Android technology, designed to show us our friends’ locations in real time, we have never been more connected.
Although social networking is deeply embedded in our everyday lives, it’s worth remembering that this is a relatively recent phenomenon.
As our research shows, social networking has only gone truly mainstream in the last year, with the number of people who have communicated via social media increasing from 17% of the adult population in 2008, to 35% just one year later. And while this growth can be seen across the population, the 25-34s have made the biggest leap into the world of social networking, jumping from 25% with a social networking profile in 2008 to 60% in 2009.
Why do we like it?
Stalwarts of tradition fear this new medium, claiming it corrupts the way we form meaningful relationships, engage with community and acquire social skills. But our data illustrates a much more positive outlook – far from limiting our social sphere and relegating relationships to the PC screen of life, social networking actually provides a wealth of opportunities: to meet people, make and maintain contact with friends, share views, express emotion, find help for personal problems and a myriad of other interactions that might previously have been unattainable.
In fact, Future Foundation research reveals that nearly half (48%) of young adults aged 16-19 count social networking sites as a primary source of community.
e-shop til you drop
Online shopping may not be new – but the growth of social networking has changed our online shopping behaviour, provoking a rise in social shopping. Consumers are becoming ever more influential when shopping online – nearly 80% now look for customer reviews prior to purchasing goods online, and four in 10 (38%) pass on high street discount vouchers to friends and family, not only to help others in tough economic times, but also to be seen as smart shoppers.
Rating and sharing has become so popular that it has even overtaken transaction activity in some areas – our research shows that user generated content sites received 14% more visits than transactional sites in March 2009.
Online news
The growing popularity of sites like Twitter is also revolutionising the way we follow the news, accelerating the move towards social media as an integral part of our lives. Forty per cent of us now get at least some of our news information from online sources, compared to 27% in 2007.
It’s interesting to note that the way we consume news has also become more social, as we blog, clip share, comment and Tweet our views on the world around us. And this is having an extraordinary effect on news providers, as they increasingly reach beyond the sphere of their own networks and embrace groundbreaking leads from users.
The future’s mobile
So what’s the future for social networking? Well, the good news is that it’s here to stay. Our forecasting data suggests that almost 70% of the UK adult population will be active on social networks by 2014, with exponential growth across every demographic group.
This will be driven in part by enhanced technology devices such as smart mobile phones with real-time capabilities, a wider range of mobile applications and advances in clever browser technology such as Googlewave (due to launch at the end of September 2009), which will facilitate seamless multi-platform conversations.
Currently the most popular mobile internet activities are instant messaging (22%), checking for news, weather and sport (17%) and social network communication (11%). The big shift will come when existing limitations with usability, cost and mobile access give way to the new generation of mobile devices. Users will grow accustomed to the benefits of mobile social networking and this flexibility will gradually weaken our reliance on desk-bound socialising. We’ll be able to engage with our networks wherever we are.
Social networking will inform our media and news consumption, our shopping experiences, entertainment choices and even our perception of brands and companies. Clearly, plenty more of us will be prepared to join the party, more of the time.