I read an interesting article from AdAge on the different "profiles" of people who use the various forms of social media. I've supplied some of the findings below and added my own 2 cents.
In general:
"Their top three interests are music, movies and hanging out with friends, and they use social media most to stay in touch with friends, family and classmates... Anderson's research breaks down general social-media users into four categories: business users, fun seekers, social-media mavens and late followers."
My perspective - In general, I think social media users started out as the sorority or student council type who were on the networks, but now it has pretty much expanded to include people of all different "profiles", especially those 16-40 in the working world and frequent internet users. It would be interesting to see if the economy's downturn has increased the social media users as a cheaper way of staying in touch, networking or more effective way of looking for jobs/getting job leads.
Facebookers:
"They are more likely to be married (40%), white (80%) and retired (6%) than users of the other social networks. Facebook users skew a bit older and are more likely to be late adopters of social media. But they are also extremely loyal to the site -- 75% claim Facebook is their favorite site, and another 59% say they have increased their use of the site in the past six months."
My perspective - Facebook has different usage levels, the casual users who just want to keep in touch and don't use regularly, all the way to the "Crackbook" users, who are on facebook every 10 minutes and is their "go-to" when they have a moment of downtime. Facebook is definitely more of a time commitment and leans more toward social rather than job connections. Personally, I think if you don't have a Facebook page in this day & age you are so out of the loop.
Twitterers:
"Twitterers especially like pop culture, with music, movies, TV and reading, ranking higher than average. They're more likely to buy books, movies, shoes and cosmetics online than the other groups. Twitterers are also entrepreneurial. They are more likely than others to use the service to promote their blogs or businesses. Some 31% buy coffee online, far above the average 21% of other social networkers. They're more likely to be employed part-time (16% vs. 11% average)."
My perspective - Twitter users are like Facebook users but to the extreme. They are either super addicted or just join because they want to say they are on it, but don't really know how to use it. I think its more effective for advertising, marketing, celebrity and news world, but not a good way for schools or employers to reach their audience.
MySpacers:
"The 67 million who are still there are into having a good time. They're more likely to have joined MySpace for fun and more likely to be interested in entertaining friends, humor and comedy, and video games. They're less into exercise than any other social group but seek out parenting information more than any other. Their average income is the lowest, at $44,000."
My perspective - Is this seriously still a site people use? It's kind of like the WT of social media if you ask me. People who have Myspace pages and not Facebook pages are just too lazy to swtich.
LinkedIn:
"LinkedIn has the only user group with more males than females (57% to 43%). They have the highest average income, at $89,000, and are more likely to have joined the site for business or work, citing keeping in touch with business networks, job searching, business development and recruiting as top reasons. Excluding video-game systems, they own more electronic gadgets than the other social networkers, including digital cameras, high-definition TVs, DVRs and Blu-ray players. Here were two surprises among the things they're more interested in than the others: gambling and soap operas."
My perspective - LinkedIn is the Facebook of the job and networking market. It's for working professionals and isn't something that requires updates very often to stay relevant, which fits the working professional profile.
Check out the whole Ad Age article by Beth Snyder Bulik "What Your Favorite Social Network Says About You."
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
I Can’t Make This Stuff Up
A series of random texts inspired a series of facebook posts that inspired a series of fun comments from good friends, old and new!
My boyfriend sums the whole experience up nicely in one phrase, “You have a weird life.” But I’m glad my weird life can bring a chuckle to others.
Here’s a chronicling of events:
My first post:
I just got a text from a random number, so I sent the random a text back saying “I don't know who this is so stop texting.” And the text I got back from the random was "It's your wife dufus".
Comments:
HAHA megan this is the funniest thing i have read in a long time - and i am sooo bringing 'dufus' back into my vocabulary!! -KDA
Omg that's hilarious! -AC
HAHAHA Gah Megan, your such a dufus. Don't you know your own wife's number? –LBG
My second post:
I'm glad some people enjoyed my last status about the random phone # that was texting me, so here's more of the ensuing conversation.
After not answering back to the "It's your wife dufus." I walked away from my phone and returned to find the following 3 messages:
#1 - "i love you."
#2 – “are you okay?”
#3 – “please talk to me”
Comments:
Haha, Oh my! –CR
haha Megan that is too funny! I just had to share that with people I work with because I started laughing to myself and they wanted to know what was so amusing -MR
That is hilarious ... you should tell her to double check the # she is texting! Haha -AP
There is your entertainment fir the day! You should keep texting them back! –JB
AHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA -LBG
My third post:
And now for the 3rd, and final, installment...
After the random's text #3 - "please talk to me". I replied: "I don't know who this is but stop texting".
To which the random replied: "You gotta be kidding me".
So I then CALLED and left a VM saying "Someone is texting me from this number and they have the wrong number, so please stop texting". To which the random replied: "Can't talk."
Comments:
I bet she feels like an idiot!! -LBG
This is really entertaining me... I'm on the edge of my seat with anticipation - what will "random" text next!? -BO
Awesome. -PM
Love the play-by-play Meg! Hope to see you this weekend!!! -ES
this is amazing :) -CE
that is hilarious! -SB
Monday, July 6, 2009
Talking About My Generation
I read this article last week and couldn't agree more.
Jonathan Lewis Hopes Economic Hardship Knocks a Little Sense Into His Generation
by Jonathan Lewis Published: July 01, 2009
I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted, because the excess that fueled Generation Y and the current economic meltdown is fading fast -- along with, I hope, the most negative characteristics of our generation. Whether you've just graduated into the worst job market in decades, were recently laid off or shudder every time your manager calls an impromptu meeting, one thing is true: Like it or not, you and I are going to face some very difficult personal and professional decisions.
Do you remember when, not long ago, volumes of articles, books and even conferences were springing up attempting to teach the "old-school" business community how to best manage this upcoming and unique generation entering the work force? Authors used terms such as "entitled" and "narcissistic" to describe what they called the most digitally connected and self-focused generation to walk the earth. Ample advice was given on how to best manage our fragile self-esteem, fickle career decisions and, as freelance writer Carol Forsloff put it, resistance "to anything that doesn't involve praise and rewards." The only positive thing said about us was our intimate knowledge of technology, and even that is being eroded by the boomers' rush to embrace it (my mother-in-law just friended me on Facebook).
I don't know about you, but having to write the above paragraph about myself and my generation has me more than a little embarrassed. That's why I hope the current economy and accompanying hardships will do more than scare us. I hope they will knock a little sense into us too.
We're not the first generation to face tough times. If we can heed some of the following age-old advice and learn a thing or two from folks who have gone through this before, not only will we have a better chance to thrive through this hardship, we might just disprove a few stereotypes along the way.
1. Get over yourself - The only thing self-esteem gave us was a dangerous dose of entitlement. If we're going to come out of this downturn alive, we're going to have to remember one thing: No one owes us anything. We earn what we get, and that "earn" part involves time and effort. Our employers and interviewers don't care if their demands interfere with our lunch appointment or 8 a.m. workout. And frankly, we can't afford to have the world revolve around us anymore. We must take a bite of humble pie, prove our value and get over our collective selves.
2. Remember what your mama told you - There's a reason Robert Fulghum wrote "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." He understood the value of mastering the basics. And chances are your mom did too. She sure didn't teach you to stroll in to work at 9:30 a.m. or take that extra-long lunch. And you can just imagine what she would say if she saw the apparel you deemed appropriate for work this morning. No matter what happens in the world around us, the fundamentals never change. Be professional. Work hard. Honor your word. Do unto others ... I mean, seriously, I know our generation doesn't emerge from adolescence until we're 25, but c'mon. Grow up.
3. Get off your butt and innovate - It wasn't buckets of cash or bailouts that pulled our grandparents out of the Great Depression. It was the hard work of a generation, a bloody world war and some of the most groundbreaking innovation the world has ever seen. Economies don't recover when generations sit on their hands hoping someone else will fix their problems.
According to author and speaker Alexandra Levit, Holly Hoffman took this to heart when she saw layoffs looming at the national newspaper corporation she worked for in Texas. Instead of lying low in team meetings, she decided to take things into her own hands. Hoffman explained, "As the bottom person, I knew that I would be eliminated unless I could directly tie my position to profits. So instead of just using the sales program I was given, I interviewed our field reps to see how we could improve it." Levit reported that "Ms. Hoffman's revamped sales program was expanded to three additional newspapers, earning her a promotion even as many of her friends were being laid off."
If we are going to do more than just survive in this environment, we must step up to the plate, put our green pencils to recycled paper and innovate our way to success.
4. Things will never be the same - Our nation's rush to borrow its way out of debt has more than a few economists worried. And you can bet your Euros it's our generation that will pay for this mess. The era of "Bad credit? No problem" is over, and the luxuries we've taken for granted are slipping away. We're inheriting incomprehensible debt, unsustainable social programs and leaders who think the way to fix the problem is to keep doing more of the same thing. You and I have to come to terms with the knowledge that more trouble is heading our way, and hiding from it won't make it disappear. Like any major challenge, you can't deal with the problem until you admit that you have one.
5. Berlin or bust - Our grandparents faced a similar situation during their generation's greatest challenge. The Great Depression and WWII fostered hardships we can't even imagine -- yet. It was the excesses of their parents' generation, embodied by the Roaring Twenties, that fueled their hardships. Their response: Stand firm, work hard and help a neighbor.
And now we're faced with a similar choice. Our grandparents could have thrown in the towel and resigned themselves to their poor lot in life, but they didn't. They rose to the challenge and earned their place in history as the Greatest Generation. So what will our response be? Will we wait for someone to swoop in and fix our problems, or will we build off our strengths, harness the incredible tools at our disposal and pull ourselves up by our Nike shoestrings? With a little old-school work ethic and innovation, we can take our new-school technology and show our critics, and the world, what our generation is really made of.
It's yet to be seen if this worst-case scenario will end up being the best thing to happen to our generation. But one thing is certain: The choice is ours.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Lewis is an account executive at McKee Wallwork Cleveland. At 25, he is squarely in what has been dubbed the millennial generation.
Jonathan Lewis Hopes Economic Hardship Knocks a Little Sense Into His Generation
by Jonathan Lewis Published: July 01, 2009
I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted, because the excess that fueled Generation Y and the current economic meltdown is fading fast -- along with, I hope, the most negative characteristics of our generation. Whether you've just graduated into the worst job market in decades, were recently laid off or shudder every time your manager calls an impromptu meeting, one thing is true: Like it or not, you and I are going to face some very difficult personal and professional decisions.
Do you remember when, not long ago, volumes of articles, books and even conferences were springing up attempting to teach the "old-school" business community how to best manage this upcoming and unique generation entering the work force? Authors used terms such as "entitled" and "narcissistic" to describe what they called the most digitally connected and self-focused generation to walk the earth. Ample advice was given on how to best manage our fragile self-esteem, fickle career decisions and, as freelance writer Carol Forsloff put it, resistance "to anything that doesn't involve praise and rewards." The only positive thing said about us was our intimate knowledge of technology, and even that is being eroded by the boomers' rush to embrace it (my mother-in-law just friended me on Facebook).
I don't know about you, but having to write the above paragraph about myself and my generation has me more than a little embarrassed. That's why I hope the current economy and accompanying hardships will do more than scare us. I hope they will knock a little sense into us too.
We're not the first generation to face tough times. If we can heed some of the following age-old advice and learn a thing or two from folks who have gone through this before, not only will we have a better chance to thrive through this hardship, we might just disprove a few stereotypes along the way.
1. Get over yourself - The only thing self-esteem gave us was a dangerous dose of entitlement. If we're going to come out of this downturn alive, we're going to have to remember one thing: No one owes us anything. We earn what we get, and that "earn" part involves time and effort. Our employers and interviewers don't care if their demands interfere with our lunch appointment or 8 a.m. workout. And frankly, we can't afford to have the world revolve around us anymore. We must take a bite of humble pie, prove our value and get over our collective selves.
2. Remember what your mama told you - There's a reason Robert Fulghum wrote "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." He understood the value of mastering the basics. And chances are your mom did too. She sure didn't teach you to stroll in to work at 9:30 a.m. or take that extra-long lunch. And you can just imagine what she would say if she saw the apparel you deemed appropriate for work this morning. No matter what happens in the world around us, the fundamentals never change. Be professional. Work hard. Honor your word. Do unto others ... I mean, seriously, I know our generation doesn't emerge from adolescence until we're 25, but c'mon. Grow up.
3. Get off your butt and innovate - It wasn't buckets of cash or bailouts that pulled our grandparents out of the Great Depression. It was the hard work of a generation, a bloody world war and some of the most groundbreaking innovation the world has ever seen. Economies don't recover when generations sit on their hands hoping someone else will fix their problems.
According to author and speaker Alexandra Levit, Holly Hoffman took this to heart when she saw layoffs looming at the national newspaper corporation she worked for in Texas. Instead of lying low in team meetings, she decided to take things into her own hands. Hoffman explained, "As the bottom person, I knew that I would be eliminated unless I could directly tie my position to profits. So instead of just using the sales program I was given, I interviewed our field reps to see how we could improve it." Levit reported that "Ms. Hoffman's revamped sales program was expanded to three additional newspapers, earning her a promotion even as many of her friends were being laid off."
If we are going to do more than just survive in this environment, we must step up to the plate, put our green pencils to recycled paper and innovate our way to success.
4. Things will never be the same - Our nation's rush to borrow its way out of debt has more than a few economists worried. And you can bet your Euros it's our generation that will pay for this mess. The era of "Bad credit? No problem" is over, and the luxuries we've taken for granted are slipping away. We're inheriting incomprehensible debt, unsustainable social programs and leaders who think the way to fix the problem is to keep doing more of the same thing. You and I have to come to terms with the knowledge that more trouble is heading our way, and hiding from it won't make it disappear. Like any major challenge, you can't deal with the problem until you admit that you have one.
5. Berlin or bust - Our grandparents faced a similar situation during their generation's greatest challenge. The Great Depression and WWII fostered hardships we can't even imagine -- yet. It was the excesses of their parents' generation, embodied by the Roaring Twenties, that fueled their hardships. Their response: Stand firm, work hard and help a neighbor.
And now we're faced with a similar choice. Our grandparents could have thrown in the towel and resigned themselves to their poor lot in life, but they didn't. They rose to the challenge and earned their place in history as the Greatest Generation. So what will our response be? Will we wait for someone to swoop in and fix our problems, or will we build off our strengths, harness the incredible tools at our disposal and pull ourselves up by our Nike shoestrings? With a little old-school work ethic and innovation, we can take our new-school technology and show our critics, and the world, what our generation is really made of.
It's yet to be seen if this worst-case scenario will end up being the best thing to happen to our generation. But one thing is certain: The choice is ours.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Lewis is an account executive at McKee Wallwork Cleveland. At 25, he is squarely in what has been dubbed the millennial generation.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Top 10 Signs Your Virtual Life is Better than Your Real Life
1. You have to post pictures to prove that you actually do go out and have a life
2. You still know everything about your best friend from high school even though you haven’t actually spoken to her or seen her since graduation.
3. Your “happy hours” consist of your group g-chatting while drinking a beer alone in your house.
4. You vacation vicariously through other people’s Facebook albums.
5. You get asked on a date via text, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter or LinkedIn. When you get to the date you realize he looks nothing like his pictures online.
6. You have to lie on your status updates to seem more interesting/ fun.
7. When you go out, you spend more time on your iphone than interacting with actual humans.
8. You know exactly where Ashton Kutcher is at all times (thanks to Twitter) but you can’t even remember the last time you saw your roommate.
9. You aren’t sure that your “top Facebook friends” would even recognize you if they ran into you on the street.
10. Besides going to the bathroom, never leave your cube at work because you interact with your co-workers via Facebook, email, IM, Twitter, skype & Myspace.
2. You still know everything about your best friend from high school even though you haven’t actually spoken to her or seen her since graduation.
3. Your “happy hours” consist of your group g-chatting while drinking a beer alone in your house.
4. You vacation vicariously through other people’s Facebook albums.
5. You get asked on a date via text, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter or LinkedIn. When you get to the date you realize he looks nothing like his pictures online.
6. You have to lie on your status updates to seem more interesting/ fun.
7. When you go out, you spend more time on your iphone than interacting with actual humans.
8. You know exactly where Ashton Kutcher is at all times (thanks to Twitter) but you can’t even remember the last time you saw your roommate.
9. You aren’t sure that your “top Facebook friends” would even recognize you if they ran into you on the street.
10. Besides going to the bathroom, never leave your cube at work because you interact with your co-workers via Facebook, email, IM, Twitter, skype & Myspace.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Client-Vendor Relstionships Parody
Funny video about client-vendor relationships in the real world :) If you are in the advertising industry, you'll especially enjoy this one!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
"Megan" on Wolfram Alpha
So I'm obsessed with Wolfram Alpha (obviously) so expect to see some more posts in the upcoming days/weeks...
Another thing that's nice is you can make pdfs of your findings!
Another thing that's nice is you can make pdfs of your findings!
Wolfram Alpha
Check out this new type of search! It's kind of like Google or Yahoo, but it tries to "think" about what you are asking and provides facts, stats, graphs and other related info about the topic or topics you are inquiring about.
To test it out, use some of the suggested searches on the right-hand side of the home page.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/
To test it out, use some of the suggested searches on the right-hand side of the home page.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)