A Collection of Social Network Stats for 2010

Stats are important –but on their own, they don’t tell us much
Stats on social networks are important, but don’t rely on them alone. Data is like fire, it can be used for good and bad, proper insight and analysis is always required. Beyond that, you’ll often see conflicting stats across the industry as everyone has different methodologies, as a result, this listing will help you to see the greater trends –not numbers without context.

How to interpret stats
Numbers don’t tell us much without insight and interpretation, in fact, you’re going to see conflicting numbers of usage from many of the agencies and social networks themselves. The key is to look at trend movements, don’t focus on the specific numbers but the changes to them over time. Put more weight on active unique users in the last 30 days vs overall registered, in fact, the actual active conversion rate will often range from 10-40% of actual users sticking around and using the social network, so don’t be fooled by puffed numbers. No single metric is a good indicator, you have to evaluate the usage from multiple dimensions, so you also have to factor in what are users doing, time on site, interaction, and of course, did they end up buying, recommending products, or improving their lives.

This article is published by web-strategist, click here to read the whole article.

Small Business Leaders Prefer ‘Passive’ Social Media – For Now

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While the concept of “social media” brings to mind images of active online discussions, a new study of small business social media use by Business.com finds that small business leaders currently show a strong preference for “passive” social media sources of business-relevant information — such as viewing webinars or reading online ratings, reviews and company blog posts — over those that require more active interaction with others. However, the use of social media resources requiring more active participation, such as asking business-related questions through Twitter or online question-and-answer forums, is set to rise among small business leaders as they gain access to effective online business networks.

These are the top five social media resources among study participants:

1. Webinars / Podcasts

Small business leaders find webinars and podcasts to be highly useful for learning new skills, ongoing professional training and/or researching industries, products and services without the expense and time commitment required to attend seminars in person.

2. Ratings & Reviews

Whether looking for the most useful software, best business book on a particular topic or qualifying potential products to stock in retail stores, small business leaders find that online ratings and reviews provide valuable input into the business buying process.

3. Company / Brand Pages on Social Networking Sites

With online social networking becoming mainstream, and as companies rush to establish a corporate and/or brand presence on these sites, many small business leaders turn to social networking sites for the latest information from important vendors.

4. Company Blogs

An oldstand by in the world of social media, small business leaders praise company blogs — at least, those that are “well written, current and with good thought leadership articles” — as great sources of information about business-relevant products, services and the underlying character of a company. Increasingly, small business leaders are connecting to company blog content through social networking sites.

5. Social Media Search

While some of the business-relevant information on social media sites can be found through general search engines, a great deal cannot. Realizing this, over half of small business leaders using social media search for business-relevant information directly on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Business.com Answers, SlideShare and many more.

A more detailed look at hundreds of write-in comments from the study suggests that business social media is definitely not about “socializing.” Instead, small business leaders judge the value of different social media resources based on how efficiently they can find what they need. More passive social media, like webinars, product/service ratings, company “fan” pages and blog posts, can be relatively quick ways to find basic, business-relevant information.

Read the original article here.

Only Wireless Phones in One-Fifth of US Households

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More than one of every five US homes (22.7%) had no landline and only wireless phone service during the first half of 2009, an increase of 2.5 percentage points since the second half of 2008, according to preliminary results from the January – June 2009 National Health Interview Survey by the US Centers for Disease Control (via MarketingCharts).

The study also found that approximately 21.1% of all US adults (about 48 million) lived in households with only wireless telephones; 21.3% of all children (nearly 16 million) lived in households with only wireless telephones. Moreover, one of every seven American homes (14.7%) had a landline but still receives all or almost all of its calls on wireless telephones.

Wireless-Only Steadily Increasing

The CDC reports that the percentage of households that are wireless-only has been steadily increasing and rose by approximately 5 percentage points in 12 months, from 17.5% in the first six months of 2008 to 22.7% in the first six months of 2009.

There are additional CDC study findings about wireless-only households regarding demographic differences from the first half of 2009.

Demographic Distributions

In terms of percent distribution of selected demographic characteristics for adults living in households with only wireless telephones, the survey found little change over the past three years, except as related to sex, age, and employment status.

Wireless-Mostly Households

Among households with both landline and wireless telephones, 24.8% received all or almost all calls on the wireless telephones, based on data for the period July through December 2008. These wireless-mostly households make up 14.7% of all households, the study found.

The percentage of adults living in wireless-mostly households has been increasing over time. During the first six months of 2009, nearly 37 million adults (16.2%) lived in wireless-mostly households. Although this prevalence estimate was not significantly different from the estimate for the last 6 months of 2008 (15.4%), it was significantly greater than the estimate for the first 6 months of 2008 (14.4%).

Find the entire article here.

U.S. Online Travel to Grow 9 Percent in 2009

Although online travel is showing signs of a mature marketplace, its growth will continue to outpace the total travel market through 2010. The market offers significant opportunities—to those who take advantage of them—even amid the current weak economic climate.

Key Findings:

• U.S. leisure / unmanaged business travel bookings accounted for $89.7 billion in 2007, more than one-third of the total travel market.
• Despite broad economic turmoil, softening consumer spending and declining travel demand, the U.S. online travel market is projected to grow in the high single digits through 2010, far ahead of the total travel market.
• Supplier Web sites and online travel agencies are expected to hold a temporary share equilibrium through 2010 at 61% and 39%, respectively, but this equilibrium remains uneasy: intense competition and powerful economic trends are driving turbulent dynamics in online air and hotel sales.
• Market maturity is sparking significant innovation in consumer marketing, media revenue models and trip planning/destination content products. Supplier sites are trying to get more dollars out of purchasers, while online travel agencies are trying to monetize unconverted visitors.
• The impact of airline capacity cuts across the industry remains far from clear, as a rapidly deteriorating economic climate may further reduce demand and restrain airlines’ ability to raise fares.
• Online travel agencies—in particular opaque sites—are getting a mild counter-cyclical lift from weaker demand in the current tough economic climate; travelers are increasingly shopping online for better bargains.
• Dynamic packaging is experiencing a moderate resurgence as increasingly bargain-hungry consumers respond to the “book together and save” proposition.
• Spurred largely by rising fuel costs, soaring airfares and growing concern for “green” travel, Amtrak is experiencing record growth in overall ridership and online bookings.

Related article: PhoCusWright US Online Travel Overview 8th Edition.