A close friend, but not a trusted one?

Editor’s note: Mark Hardy is managing director, Americas, Survey Sampling International, Shelton, Conn. Keith Phillips is senior methodologist, Survey Sampling International.

Everyone agrees that social networking is exploding. But what are people using social media for and how much do they value it? What sites do they prefer and why? Are they passively listening or actively taking part in conversations? What new developments are they likely to adopt?

For market researchers, the questions around social media are even more challenging. What does the rise in social media use mean for reaching and engaging research participants? What are the latest social media trends - and how can we use them to enhance rather than compete with survey research?

To learn the answers, Survey Sampling International (SSI) conducted a new study with more than 1,450 U.S. consumers 13 and older. About half of our respondents are from our traditional proprietary panels while the other half are from Web communities. This article shares the results and provides insights into how and why people are using social networks today and what they expect to be doing in the future.

Common misperception

According to Nielsen, one in every four-and-a-half minutes online is spent on social networks and blogs. But just who is spending so much time on social media? It’s a common misconception that social networks are dominated by the young but our findings show that social networking is common across all age groups. As expected, about 90 percent of respondents 18-24 have visited social networking sites within the last week. Some might be surprised to see, however, that about 70 percent of those 35-44, 60 percent of those 45-54 and about half of those 55 and older also have been social networking within the last week.

Clearly, social networking is just a regular part of life for people of all ages. But exactly where have people spent their time within the last week? The usual suspects rise to the top of the list - Facebook (61 percent), YouTube (33 percent), MySpace (12 percent) and Twitter (11 percent).

How much time are people spending on their favorite sites? It turns out quite a lot! In every age group, we’ve identified a segment we call Avids - those spending five or more hours a week social networking. About half of social network users 24 or younger fall into the Avids category - but there are avid users in every age group. For example, about a quarter of those in 35 and older fall into the avid user category.

When we ask people what they are doing with their time on social media sites, it is clear communication is the main driver of use. That’s equally true for both our youngest and our oldest participants. Information and entertainment are also key reasons people turn to social media.

Why is communication so important? Across generations, people are using social media to stay in touch with friends and family. This is particularly critical as people get spread out geographically and need easy ways to maintain contact. Even when people say they use social media for information, they often mean reconnecting with old friends. By saying they use social media for information, they are really saying the use it for staying in touch. By information, people also mean doing research on brands. They want to stay informed about other people’s attitudes, experiences and opinions about products and services.

Changed the game

Social networking has changed the game when it comes to opinion sharing. Now consumers can reach many people at once with their views - and can respond to brands and events in real time, as they are experiencing them.

Our findings reveal, however, that among social networkers, only 23 percent have posted a comment or joined in a discussion over the past week. About half of users simply view the content - monitoring the conversation rather than taking part in it.

Who are the 23 pecent so actively participating? Unsurprisingly, this group tends to skew younger. About 35 percent of those 13-17 and 30 percent of those 18-24 actively post comments.

The Avids also have the loudest voice and account for the majority of online discussions. They are most likely to post a comment, answer a poll or share their opinions about a product of service.

Younger users also are more open to responding to survey invitations through social networking sites. Those under 35 are more likely to reply to survey invitations through social networks than through traditional recruitment methods. In contrast, those over 35 are more likely to respond to survey invitations through more traditional channels, such as phone. In general, participants prefer e-mail invitations, because they can respond when they want. This level of convenience needs to be incorporated into social networking recruitment.

Clearly, as younger participants get older, social networks will become increasingly important sources for survey recruitment. Some may think that the younger users on social networks are already commenting on discussions, so why go through the trouble of surveying them? In fact our findings show that of those willing to participate in survey research, the majority - 61 percent - have not actively posted to a social network site in the past week. Therefore, researchers would not reach them simply by listening in to social media.

Valuable source

Teenagers and young adults are more likely to view social networks as a valuable source of information. More than half of respondents between 13 and 34 say the information on social networking sites is very valuable or extremely valuable to them. In contrast, only about 20 percent of those 45 and older put the same high value on social network information.

Since younger age groups put more value on social networks, are they also more influenced by them when making purchasing decisions? If we look at teens, we see that social networking is in third place as an influential source. More traditional sources - such as family and friends and TV ads - are much more important for driving purchase decisions. Among the older age groups, social networking’s influence over purchase decisions drops even lower. Across all age groups, family and friends are the most important influencers over purchase choices.

One of the reasons social networks are not powerful influencers over buying decisions is people don’t trust them. Our findings show that, although people use social networks to gather brand information, they don’t have faith that information is accurate. One of the key reasons may be the integration of advertising messages into social media "conversations." When they see celebrities tweeting about "deals," people recognize it’s a form of advertising.

Successful marketing campaigns on social networks must be grown organically. Remember: Friends and family are still the most trusted information sources.

Most of their time on Facebook

When people think about successful organic social media campaigns, Facebook is the first example that comes to mind. Facebook generates nearly one in four online page views in the U.S. Its popularity spans all age groups. Whether looking at young teenagers or adults over 65, we see about 70 percent of social networkers spending most of their time on Facebook.

There are three main drivers of Facebook’s dominance. First, it’s where everyone is, making it a simple way to stay connected. Second, it’s a convenient way to communicate. Third, it’s intuitive and easy to use.

Digging deeper, we find that Facebook users like the fact it is a general network where everyone they know is a member. They prefer that to a customized network with fewer members - but where all members share common interests.

They also, however, like a smaller group of friends within the network. This preference varies somewhat by age. In the younger age groups - when people are meeting new friends in college and starting their professional careers - respondents are split between preferring a small group of friends and preferring as many friends as possible. As people get older and more established, the vast majority want a smaller, more intimate group of friends in their networks.

Going further, we find that people across all ages prefer individual, one-to-one communications over sending broadcast messages to a large group. Privacy and intimacy are important no matter what the respondent’s age. That’s why we’re reading in the press about the development of Facebook Messages - a seamless modern messaging system that makes it irrelevant whether people are on their phones, online or on a portable device. It’s informal, immediate and simple. Whatever platform a person is on, he or she can communicate in real time.

How likely are people to adopt Facebook Messages? The more they use social networks, the more they say they are extremely or very likely to try Facebook Messages, with the Avids most enthused about this new communication tool.

What people want in the future

Exploring what people want in the future reveals why so many are excited about Facebook Messages. The majority of both younger and avid social networkers believe it is very important for social networking sites to find a way to integrate different forms of communications - from e-mails to texts.

Who will continue to be using social networking sites, as new tools are introduced? Findings show that it is the Avids who are planning on using social media much more in the coming year. About 40 percent of the most enthused Avids - those spending 10 more hours a week on social networks - plan on using those sites significantly more in the next 12 months.

One of the key factors driving social media’s growth is the introduction of new mobile devices, such as smartphones. Younger users and Avids are most likely to have accessed a social network within the last week from some kind of mobile device.

In spite of social media’s growth, people across all age groups have some serious concerns. For example, about half of even our youngest respondents are worried about location sharing - applications that broadcast your location to your social network.

Businesses are incorporating this application into their promotions. For example, they are offering incentives for people to broadcast their locations from a specific restaurant or store. Participants, however, are uneasy about sharing this level of information. Who’s actually seeing it? Can burglars use it to identify when someone isn’t home?

Even legitimate businesses are increasingly monitoring social networking sites - and users are not comfortable with that either. Across all age groups, few people agreed that companies should be allowed to collect information from social networking sites. People want to know how their information is being used and when they are communicating with a company. That’s why they are comfortable with survey research as opposed to social network eavesdropping.

Six key learnings

Clearly, social networks are here to stay and are an increasingly important part of the communication and research mix. SSI’s study reveals six key learnings for those looking to understand social networks as marketing and research tools:

  1. Social networks are shaping expectations for how we communicate, access information and share opinions. It’s critical to understand the ways people are connecting - and how much time they are willing to devote to each of their communications channels.
  2. People want to be in networks that have wide reach and include everyone they know. They also, however, cherish intimacy and privacy - which is one of the main reasons they are worried about sharing information broadly across a social network.
  3. Convenience and ease of use are the key reasons users prefer one platform over another.
  4. Even among younger users, trust still needs to be established. People are using social media to find purchasing information but don’t always have confidence in what they see.
  5. Avids plan to go extreme. They will become even more engrossed in their online activities. They are the cutting-edge users who are shaping what social networks will become. 
  6. Survey researchers need to embrace social networks and find ways to incorporate them into their methodologies and questionnaire designs. They need to use social networks to enhance both the recruitment and the research experiences.

Setting the standard

The expectations social networks are shaping - for ease, for convenience and for immediacy - are setting the standard for everything we do online. Those expectations will affect how we manage our research and our businesses in the years to come.