The beginning of the year offers a perfect time to brainstorm and plan ways to pursue new goals for your community organization. Social media has probably crossed your mind in these game-planning sessions. It's here to stay and it's a great way to engage with members of your community.
If you need a bit more convincing, here are 10 mind-boggling statistics to show that social media is a way of life in the 21st century and your organization should participate:
1. 1 in 7 minutes online is spent on Facebook (comScore)
Facebook dominates how internet users interact with friends, brands, images, videos, searches and more. Do you have a Facebook page set up for your organization?
2. There are more than 900 million Facebook users (Facebook)
If Facebook was a country, it would be the third largest in the world behind China and India.
3. 93% of U. S. internet users are on Facebook (HubSpot)
This excuse no longer works in 2012: ".My target customer doesn't really use Facebook."
4. Twitter has over 100 million active users (State of Search)
People use Twitter to share and read news. You can use it for both: create your own news and see what people are saying in the parks & rec world.
5. There were 6,939 tweets per second on New Year's (Twitter)
With smart phones, tweeting has become a way of life.
6. Twitter is adding nearly 500,000 new users per day (Jeff Bullas)
Growth is explosive. Right now, only 1 in 10 Americans are using Twitter but that stat will change soon. Are you tweeting?
7. Google Plus is adding 625,000 new users per day (PC World)
December's growth shows promise and Google is predicting 400 million users by the end of 2012.
8. There are more than 160 million professionals on LinkedIn (LinkedIn)
Linkedin is the most powerful business networking engine in the world. Have you set up a profile or group for your community organization?
9. Over 3 billion videos are viewed on YouTube every month (YouTube)
People love video. Do you have a YouTube channel set up? Consider making a video and posting it to YouTube. See how people react!
10. 72 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute (YouTube)
With a little math, that translates to nearly 8 years of content uploaded everyday.Bottom line #1: I wanted to put an exclamation point after each stat, but restrained as to not annoy you, the reader.Bottom line #2: It's time to either get started with or ramp up your social media efforts. What better time than now?Join us on Facebook - let's talk about making our communities healthier!
