This just in…Updated Social Media Stats

Here’s a quick look at the state of social media (or at least the social media we care about Facebook and Twitter)

This just in Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg claims Facebook now has over 250 Million viewers.  He claims that the population spike is due to a growth of 50 million users in the past three months.  That is a massive amount of growth for a three month time period.  It is also a pretty amazing stat when you think about how Twitter has been in the spotlight for that time period when Facebook has continued massive growth.

Zuckerberg continued to say that about half (or 120 million) Facebook users log on every day, which combats many of the critics arguments of Facebook.  He also said that two-thirds of all Facebook users are out of college and the fastest growing age demographic is 35 and over.

We have talked about Facebook traffic numerous times on wwwwY, but never have we talked about Zuckerberg giving straight stats.  I think it’s clear that Facebook is here to stay (at least for a while) until they make a massive mistake and everyone leaves.  I think it’s extremely interesting that Facebook is still growing at such a fast pace, when all you have been hearing about is Twitter in the news.

I have expressed my feelings before that Gen Y were the early adopters of Facebook and social networking and now the early majority is picking it up (the 35+).  This is still obvious to me.  The interesting stat is that over two thirds of the users are out of college.  This shows me that all those early adopters (the college students the past 5 years) have graduated and moved on to new things.

Because they are entering a new stage in their lives, the way they use social networking is changing.  Something that will decide Facebook’s fate is whether they can keep Facebook updated to the new ways that Gen Y will use social networking.  No longer will Gen Yer’s use Facebook to look for partys, or to Facebook stalk that girl who lived down the hall in the dorms; Gen Yers will use Facebook for networking and professional purposes.  Facebook’s main goal should be to make these adjustments, as the college kids aren’t their main demographic anymore.

Also, could Twitter be the gateway drug of social networking?  I would like to see stats on non social networking users who try Twitter and then also move on to Facebook.  Could Twitter be getting new users’ feet wet in the social networking game and then have them move to Facebook for a more intense experience?  I think there could be a possibility.

So I guess I’ll close with: If Twitter is internet marijuana, then it is the gateway drug to Facebook; internet crack…

Happy Friday Everyone!

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