- 83% watch video clips, up from 62% in the last study in June 2007
- 78% read blogs, up from 66%
- 57% of internet users are now members of a social network
- RSS consumption is growing rapidly up from 15% to 39%
- Podcasts are now mainstream digital content, listened to by 48%

Social networks have been "a key driver for the growth of social media":

- 22% of social network users have installed a widget or applications
- 55% have shared photos
- 22% have shared their videos
- 31% have started a blog
- The world’s biggest social network is MySpace with 32% weekly reach followed by Facebook on 23%

The report also states that social media is a global phenomenon:

- Top markets for blogging – China 70% of internet users write a blog, Philippines 66% and Mexico 60%
- Top markets for social networking – Philippines 83%, Hungary 76% and Poland 76%
- China is the world's largest blogging market with 42m bloggers versus 26m in the US

Those last stats will be an eye opener for many, because the US web tech market gets most of the attention of the blogosphere and mainstream media. But with China having 42m bloggers compared to the US's 26m, there is large scope for social media to flourish there - even despite China's political issues with social media.

As Michael Chin points out on the KickApps blog, social media first changed how we interacted with friends, family, and customers. Now, as consumers are getting more familiar with these tools, they also expect them to be a way to interact with companies - and based on this data from Cone, they want this to be a two-way conversation.

Here are some other interesting data points from the study:

• 60% of Americans regularly interact with companies on a social media site
• 43% of consumers say that companies should use social networks to solve the consumers' problems
• 41% believe that companies should use social media tools to solicit feedback on products and services
• Men are more likely to use social media tools to interact with a company than women (33% vs. 17%)
• 33% of younger consumers (18-34) and those with household incomes over $75,000 believe that companies should try to market to them through social networks

It would be nice to see Cone break these numbers down a bit more. What types of social media sites, for example, do users prefer? Are there any specific categories of companies and brands that they want to see on these sites? How exactly do they want to be marketed to? What do they think about implications for their privacy?

What is clear, however, is that social media is quickly becoming an important means for companies to reach consumers - and that consumer are also quickly changing their expectations about how, when, and where they want to be marketed to. As more users are embracing social media (and often to the detriment of traditional media), companies have no choice but to follow them.

Introducing Social Media To Businesses

If this were a course, JustMeans would be the teacher of social media for businesses. JustMeans provides a way for businesses to use various tools associated with social media from blogging to podcasting with ease. To make businesses feel comfortable in early adopter territory, traditional medias such as press releases are also provided. With these tools, users, or "stakeholders", can easily engage with businesses on JustMeans via the company's profile.

Social Responsibility

JustMeans rides the economic "green wave" of corporate social responsibility. This is also one of the key focuses of the JustMeans site and the businesses that engage with it. Businesses can post about the "social responsibilities" that they are upholding to keep users and fans of a businesses network up-to-date on their goals and outreach programs. The site includes a forum for businesses and consumers to collectively brainstorm about ideas for change. This way, users are actually heard, while companies can receive better feedback about what they can do better.

Connecting For A Collective Change

JustMeans is a great platform for connecting businesses that are socially responsible with users that appreciate being informed not only about a company's ethics, but what a company is doing to insure that they are upholding the standards they've set and obligations they've committed to from a social standpoint. JustMeans is not only a network to help introduce businesses to social media, but a platform for collective social change.

His thoughts might surprise you. Is the firehose of social data further killing our attention spans? Are drunken Facebook party pictures necessarily a bad thing? How do n00bs help refresh the echo chamber? Spend eight minutes of your life with one of social media's friendliest thought leaders; you're guaranteed to hear something new.

Heuer's Social Media Camp is taking place today at the Roger Smith Hotel, a highly social media-friendly venue in Manhattan. They're famous in the bacon-obsessed tech scene for their daily bacon happy hours.

"Companies in general don't value social media marketing as much as they should," said Noff. "They're afraid of it; they don't understand it; and therefore, they just don't do it. Yet it's the most cost-efficient way of marketing there is."

We also talked to Noff about the infinite measurement possibilities inherent in social media and the kinds of tools marketers should be using to optimize their online campaigns. She also spoke about the occasional difficulty of measuring specific conversion metrics for social media marketing campaigns, and she gave a good word to consultants in the social space.

In light of recent comments on video posts and out of respect for Ms. Noff, commenters are particularly requested to omit the words "hot" and "chick" and other terms of that general timbre from their musings below. Thanks for doing your part to keep ReadWriteWeb classy.

One such expert, Howard Greenstein, has a mile-long rap sheet in social media and web work that reaches back into the mid-nineties. He is known for his unique blend of experience and enthusiam, both of which he brings to this video conversation about how businesses and brands can use social media.

Howard Greenstein on Social Media for Brands and Businesses from ReadWriteWeb on Vimeo.

Image by Peachtree Media Advisors

Social Media Influencers Predictions 2009 By Trendsspotting
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We suppose he could have used other comparisons, but none would have the impact of comparing the technology to sex. It's true, though. In fact, we'll even expand on that thought a bit. For example, at first, Twittering your thoughts may feel awkward and strange. It might even be a little uncomfortable. But give yourself time to get comfortable with the process and next thing you know, you'll be Twittering away, enjoying yourself in the process. In fact, you might even get to the point of craving Twitter. How many Twitter addicts out there have seen or heard something interesting and their first thought was "Oh man, I have to Twitter that!" (Our hands are raised.)

But the overall point of Colony's blog post was that you won't and you can't get social media unless you engage in it. That seems pretty straightforward to us, but you'd be surprised how many people think they're experts in the matter, despite having an abandoned Twitter account...or worse, none at all. And then there are the companies rejecting social media because "it's just not right for them" - a decision they've made without even so much as a few weeks of experimentation. How sad. Just remember Mr. or Ms. CEO, you may find social media a boring waste of time, but you'd better believe that your customers are out there using it everyday. Ignore it at your peril.

When over 1,000 social media users were asked what companies' role in social media should be, their answers were somewhat surprising. For all the griping about intrusive internet ads, lame marketing campaigns, and lousy customer service, you would think that the last thing users would want is to have companies invading the platforms they use for communicating and socializing with their friends and colleagues. As it turns out, the opposite is true.

It seems that users are actually receptive to the idea of companies getting involved on social media platforms and interacting with them while there. Out of the 85% of users who want companies to have a presence in social media, 34% want companies to actively interact with them and 51% want companies to interact with them as needed or by request. 8% think companies should only be passively involved on social media and 7% think companies should not be involved at all.

This desire for business-to-consumer interaction goes beyond simply offering customer service via Twitter. Although 43% would like to see companies offering customer service through social media, 41% would like companies to solicit feedback and 37% would like companies to provide new ways to interact with the brand via social media. These numbers could not be more clear: these consumers are practically begging for businesses to get involved in social media.

Not So Shocking: Social Media Users Like To See Social Media Used

If these numbers seem a little skewed it's because the survey was only given to social media users. They're more likely to understand and appreciate how social media operates. Where traditional advertising and marketing campaigns broadcast messages one way (business to consumer), social media encourages conversations. And these open dialogues are exactly what today's social media users desire and participate in regularly. Give their active use of this medium for social communications, it's not a huge leap for them to say they want to use social media in new and different ways - such as for communicating with businesses.

Although it can be scary for businesses to take that initial plunge, once they get in and get involved, it will be worth their effort. The numbers from this study back that up, too: 56% of users say they feel better about companies when they can interact with them on social media and 57% say they feel better served.

We definitely agree with those numbers. Most people don't think to call customer service over minor complaints, feeling that it's just not worth the effort. But if you have a brand representative respond to one of your Twitter posts like this, the experience is so much better:

Social media types insist on transparency at the cost of every other virtue, including discretion. While noble, this point of view is not necessarily realistic in day-to-day American business and personal interactions.

I get that sometimes, which says a lot more about my own insecurities and the extent to which the social Web replicates the social dynamics of high school than it does about any real risk. My social network includes some very forgiving, open-minded people... and the online world is much, much bigger than anything I've tapped into so far.

Just an example: when I look through the list of the top 100 Vancouver Twitterers by number of followers, I don't recognize the vast majority of names. That tells me that a big conversation is going on (or a lot of small conversations) that I'm not a part of.

Which is cool. It's a big ol' blogosphere, and I can't possibly hope to keep tabs on any more than my small corner of it.

It's also a handy reminder to avoid the temptation of generalizing about the social Web from our own experience if it. For any of us who wants to understand how the Web and the way we use it are evolving and make some intelligent guesses about the future of social media, breaking out of our comfortable little circles and exploring a little is critical.

More Noise to Signal.

• Session 1: Social Media Marketing Fundamentals
• Session 2: Linkbait - Chumming for Traffic on Social Media Sites
• Session 3: Extra! Extra! The Social News Sites
• Session 4: A Marketer‚Äôs Guide to Social Bookmarking & Tagging
• Session 5: Keynote Q & A with Joshua Schachter of del.icio.us & Garrett Camp of StumbleUpon
• Session 6: Effectively Leveraging Social Networking
• Session 7: Evangelist - The Marketer‚Äôs Role in SMM
• Session 8: Micro Communities
• Session 9: Wikipedia, Yahoo! Answers, and Answer Sharing
• Session 10: Final Session - Wikipedia Clinic

From parody sites being taken too seriously to fake news items somehow ending up on major news websites, the two tackle a wide spectrum of new media and industrial media issues. They also get to chat about the legitimacy and credentials of new media journalists and how many social media users have ended up being the first to report or broadcast important news in recent months.

Special thanks to Christopher Munton for camera/audio/editing work.

More Noise to Signal

Top image credit: krisdecurtis