A charitable organization wants to understand how to work with social networks to increase its donor base. My research, including a test lab with subjects aged 17 and 21, has led me to wonder what impact these networks will have on reaching Gen Y/Net Gen, and how networks will affect the future of email.
Social Marketing
Social Networking increases Internet time.
Watching too much TV? Start social networking.
Social networking increases Internet usage, according to a study called “Never Ending Friending.”
The study was conducted by TNS, Teenage Research Unlimited and Marketing Evolution, and commissioned by MySpace, Carat and Isobar.
Legion of Influencers use E-Mail.
Is the current definition of “influencer” too narrow?
Everyone has some influence, but people with larger networks use more technology to spread theirs, according to “Understanding Influence, and Making It Work For You: A CNET Networks Study.”
Highly connected people use e-mail to keep up with their dozens of contacts. In fact, they use e-mail far more often than the phone to stay in touch.
Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals lead in usage of Online Social Networks.
A recent national survey found that more online gay, lesbian and bisexual (GLB) individuals use social networks Friendster and MySpace per week compared to online heterosexuals. Other well-known websites such as YouTube, Craigslist and personal web logs also were found to be more popular among GLB individuals.
New model may be the key to helping companies profit from social practices.
Can corporate social performance actually help a company’s bottom line? Finding a connection between social and financial performance has proven elusive for both academic and corporate researchers, with disappointingly varied results. But according to a new model focused on consumer behavior from Rice University, the secret may lie in the ways companies disseminate information about social programs and how they segment markets based upon customers’ values.
