A new study by Social Twist, the creators of the Tell a Friend sharing widget, analyzed the sharing trends of 10 million “shares” since September 2008. The results show that more traditional forms of online communication, including email and instant messaging, are the most common forms of sharing information in the social media universe. This debunks the theory of Twitter, which ranked quite low, and social media sites are the top.
Check out the numbers below, but keep in mind the sample may skew the numbers. Because TAF is used on an array of sites, we need to take the demo of this sites into consideration. If TAF sites skew over 30, it would make sense that email is the killer app. Forrester did a study that touched on this @ http://tinyurl.com/mncmtb. Millennials tend to share promos and swag offers more than simple “brand messages” and do it on FB and text.
Also, a big thing to keep in mind: sharing incidence and sharing reach are VERY different. As is sharing authority, all issues that need to be weighed for you social media strategy.
Here’s the top line results: (more…)
Like the young who came of age during the Great Depression, today’s young people may be deeply imprinted by the experience of the economic collapse. This formative memory is likely to foster more careful spending and saving in years to come — as it did for the Depression generation.
These words were recently written by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, who directs the John Templeton Center for Thrift and Generosity at the Institute for American Values and is the co-editor of the forthcoming book, “Franklin’s Thrift: The Lost History of An American Virtue.” (
read more here)
Ms. Dafoe is a believer that this wild economic times are likely to produce an America much different than the one we saw in recent years… a nation of stuff collectors.
This isn't to say that Americans won't spend in coming months and years, it's just that our collective values are likely to focus less on material things as they had in the past. Therefore it's imperative that companies focus on a larger view of value to embrace this new consumer outlook.
For instance, look at
Timberland. They've had their challenges in recent years, but the company seems to be finding a much more natural place for itself with its recommitment to the
environment and social responsibility. And in the process, they are slowly and surely building a lasting, loyal customer base that shares these common values. In the end, it may not be the wild ride that was Timberland's climb to hip-hop fame, but it will be sustainable (no pun intended) because its authentic to who they really are.
This is the sort of brand soul searching needed today. And it all doesn't have to be green. Tomorrow we'll look at a company making similar commitments, but not necessarily environmental.
A few months back, I published an e-book called Simplinomics. In it, I contended that the economic, social and political forces afoot would cause dramatic, lasting changes to the culture of consumerism in America. And that while this would hurt, this change would make things better for all of us in the long run.
Now, much of this sentiment is corroborated in a new study by
Context, a Baltimore-based research firm that works with the likes of American Express, P&G and Kraft Foods. In their study,
Grounding the American Dream, they state:
"From our research it is clear that the consumer today is not the same as the consumer just a few short months ago. We also believe that this new dream and this new “grounded consumer” are here to stay.
Our culture and economy are going through a rite of passage. From anthropology we know that no true rite of passage comes without pain, but as we also know that great opportunities emerge from these moments of transformation."
