115 MUST KNOW FACTS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media platforms have become a global trend and have become integral into our personal and working lives. It has become so popular that even in more remote parts of the world; chances are, people will have heard of Facebook. The influence that social media has on the lives of individuals around the globe is undeniable. However, how much do we know about the different ways that social media affects us?

Global Social Media Penetration Rate

The phenomenon of social media has spread so quickly that popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have reached almost every corner of the world. The highest penetration rate of social media is in the North American continent (59%). It is not surprising considering that Facebook and Instagram were developed in the United States. The second highest social media penetration rate is in South America (50%), followed by West Europe and East Asia both with (48%) and East Europe and Oceania with (45%) each. The lowest social media penetration rate is in Central Asia (6%). The other areas where the usage of social media is still low are in Africa and South Asia.

Social Media & News

Social media platforms such as Reddit, Facebook and Twitter have become the leading news sources for millions of people. It has been recorded that 70% of social media users find their news on Reddit, 66% use Facebook to keep up to date with current affairs and 59% stay informed through Twitter. Millennials are the most likely demographic group to use Facebook as a news source, with 66% reading news on their Facebook news feed.

Social Media Addiction

Social media sites have played a vital role in increasing the ease in which people can interact all over the world. Social media platforms also have an adverse impact on people's lives. There has been a new phenomenon called social media addiction. This is where people become dependent on social media and are regularly checking the different sites. It was reported that 85% of individuals rely on Twitter and Facebook for their daily news. If that sounds benign, consider this: 18% of social media users can not go a few hours without checking Facebook and 28% check their Twitter feed before they get out of bed in the morning. It is estimated that 39,757 years are collectively spent on Facebook in a single day.

Social Media & Purchase Decisions

Social media marketing has the power to sway consumers’ purchase decisions like no other form of marketing can. Almost half of customer look for additional product information on Pinterest and 32% use Twitter for purchase reminders. Pinterest is where 38% of buyers go to discover purchase locations. There is an equal number of consumers who find products through Facebook, and Twitter. A significant percentage of people use these two platforms to find product recommendations.

The most popular social media platform in the world is Facebook. Facebook is the most influential social media platform to use when influencing buyers’ decisions. YouTube and LinkedIn influence around 27% of shoppers, followed by Google Plus+ that reaches about 20% of consumers. Pinterest impacts the decision-making process of 12% of consumers and Twitter is influential for 8% of purchase decisions.

Social Media Marketing Spending

The influence of social media on consumers is significant and companies within the United States spend billions of dollars every year on social media marketing. In 2015, businesses in the United States spent $9.74 billion on social media marketing. In 2016 that figure grew to $11.72 billion. It has been predicted that social media marketing spending will increase to $13.51 billion in 2017, $15.36 billion in 2018 and up to $17.34 billion in 2019. The amount spent on social media marketing in the United States will have approximately doubled between 2015 and 2019.

Social Media as a Recruiting Tool

The prosperity of social media platforms has been revolutionizing the recruiting process for businesses. The Latest research shows that 73% of companies have hired candidates through social media sites. The top platforms used for recruiting new candidates are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. 93% of businesses that have used LinkedIn, 66% have used Facebook, and Twitter is used by 54%.

Social Media by the Minute

There are 4,166,667 new likes, 293,000 statuses updates and 136,000 photos shared on Facebook every minute. The numbers on Instagram and Twitter are just as impressive. There are 2,43,555 new likes and 43,470 new photos on Instagram every minute. Twitter has an average of 435,120 new tweets updated every minute.

Instagram’s Top Travel Locations

Photos of stunning tourist locations are some of the most popular types of Instagram posts. According to Instagram, the three most popular places in the world are Times Square in New York City, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Tower Bridge in London.

The Best Time to Post on Social Media

There are millions of social media users logging into the different channels throughout the day. It has been calculated that there are optimal times to post content on each platform to ensure more people see it. The best time to post on Facebook is on Wednesdays between 1pm and 4pm, Thursdays and Fridays between 3pm and 4pm, and on Wednesdays between noon and 1pm. The ideal time to be active on Twitter is Monday through to Friday between noon and 3pm, and between 5pm and 6pm on Wednesdays.

To discover more facts about social media and the role it plays in the personal and professional lives of individuals, take a look at the infographic below. The infographic was designed by the team at Skilled.co and uses data and statistics from credible up to date sources.

About Adam

His second book The LinkedIn Playbook is available now.

 His newly released training courses Linkedin2Success and Mentor2Success are receiving rave reviews world-wide as the most innovative approaches to social media and on-line marketing.

 Adam Houlahan is an International Keynote Speaker specialising in Social Media for business, and CEO of the highly successful boutique agency, Web Traffic That Works. He lives in Australia's famous tourist destination the Gold Coast Queensland, and is considered to be one of Australia's leading experts in harnessing the power of Linkedin for business. Over 3,000 people globally have sought his skill and insights to leverage the power of LinkedIn for their businesses.

He consults on Social Media to private clients in Australia, New Zealand, North America, The Middle East and Singapore. His work as CEO and owner of 6 successful companies has given him the hands-on experience to understand business from the inside.

Adam believes real and meaningful change comes through the world’s entrepreneurs. His purpose is to provide their businesses with powerful tools to grow and accelerate their global footprint. And that together we make a huge impact!

Through his Lifetime Partnership with the Global Giving Initiative B1G1 www.B1G1.com he is well on track to positively impact the lives of more than 1 million people in need.