Social Media at Work

Social Media Usage Among Healthcare Professionals

A study from Manhattan Research found that 64% of U.S. physicians currently own smartphones, but this number is expected to rise to 81% by 2012. 88% of physicians and 77% of nurses have visited Facebook. Roughly a quarter of nurses have used LinkedIn, and 65% plan to use social media for professional development at some point. However, physicians and nurses under-index in their use of certain social media, according to the same study, which found that just 16% of physicians and 11% of nurses use Twitter — compared with roughly 20% of the U.S. adult population at large.

…more…

68% of Companies Spend Less Than $5000/Yr on Social Media Marketing

Econsultancy’s 59-page The Value of Social Media Report, produced by in association with Online Marketing Summit, is based on an online survey of more than 400 client-side marketers and agency respondents, which took place in December 2009 and January 2010.  Findings include:

…more…

Time Spent On Social Networking Sites Increased 82% In Last Year

According to The Nielsen Company, global consumers spent more than five and half hours on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in December 2009, an 82% increase from the same time last year when users were spending just over three hours on social networking sites.  Social networks and blogs are the most popular online category when ranked by average time spent in December, followed by online games and instant messaging.

Facebook was the No. 1 global social networking destination in December 2009; 67% of global social media users visited the site during the month, spending nearly six hours per month on the site. Twitter.com continued as the fastest-growing in December 2009 in terms of unique visitors, increasing 579% year-over-year, from 2.7 million unique visitors in December 2008 to 18.1 million in December 2009.

…more…

Social Media Adoption by U.S. Small Businesses Doubles Since 2009

The third wave of results from the Small Business Success Index™ (SBSI) sponsored by Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business reports social media adoption by small businesses has doubled from 12% to 24% in the last year.

Nearly one out of five small business owners are actively using social media in their business, including blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. 61% of the respondents indicated that they use social media to identify and attract new customers.  75% of companies surveyed have a company page on a social networking site, and 45% expect social media to be profitable in the next twelve months.

…more…

65% of Journalists Now Use Social Media to Research Stories

An October 2009 national survey conducted by Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University found that a majority of reporters and editors now depend on social media sources when researching their stories. Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter. The survey also found that 61% use Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia.   …more…

50% of Companies Were Spammed from Social Networking Site in 2009

A survey of 500 companies found a 70% increase in spam and malware attacks via social networking sites in 2009, according to  security firm Sophos.

Facebook topped the list as the perceived riskiest of the major social-networking sites, followed by MySpace, Twitter, and finally LinkedIn.

The Sophos report (PDF) said that more than 50%  of the companies surveyed were spammed through a social-networking site last year and that 36% were hit by malware from such a site. …more…

Global Time Spent on Social Media Sites up 82% Year over Year

According to The Nielsen Company, global consumers spent more than five and half hours on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in December 2009, an 82% increase from the same time last year when users were spending just over three hours on social networking sites.

Globally, social networks and blogs are the most popular online category when ranked by average time spent in December, followed by online games and instant messaging. With 206.9 million unique visitors, Facebook was the No. 1 global social networking destination in December 2009.   …more…

53% of Employers use Social Networking Sites to Screen Candidates

More than half (53%) of employers reported in a recent CareerBuilder UK survey that they use social networking sites to research job candidates. Another 12% plan to start using social networking sites for screening. More than 450 employers participated in the survey, which was completed in December 2009.

Of those who conduct online searches/background checks of job candidates, 43% use search engines, 12% use Facebook, 12% use LinkedIn, and 4% follow candidates on Twitter. …more…

The Average Facebook User Views 662 Facebook Pages Per Month

Silicon Alley Insider’s Chart of the Week, created by pingdom.com and based on data from Google Ad Planner, shows that the average Facebook user views 662 pages a month. Next-most-sticky is Hi5, with an average of 351 pages a month, followed by MySpace, at 261 views per visitor per month. …more…

CMOs will invest more and expect more from social media in 2010

Social commerce company Bazaarvoice and the CMO Club surveyed 133 CMOs and found that two-thirds of chief marketing officers plan to increase social media budgets in the next year, and nearly …more…