Euro RSCG Biss Lancaster Social Media Whitepaper

8/9/2019 Euro RSCG Biss Lancaster Social Media Whitepaper

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Social Media in Our Daily Lives

February 2010


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Contents

Introduction and background

Social media: a growing part of the daily routine

Online versus offline relationships

Benefits and drawbacks

Online personality and the influence of anonymity

Online commercial activities

UK versus US comparison

Summary and implications for brands


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Social Media: a growing part of the daily routine


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Daily activities: visiting online social networking sites is becoming as much a part

of a users daily social routine as texting or emailing, which are far more prevalent

than offline social activities

Electronic - daily Offline - daily

Q. How often do you interact electronically/face to face in each of the following ways?


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Daily activities in the past: on balance electronic social activities are taking up

more time while face to face social activities are occupying less time

Electronic Offline

-11%

-10%

-10%

-8%

%%

Q. How much time do you spend on these interactions compared to the past?


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Daily activities in the future: on balance time on electronic social activities has

levelled off for existing users but face to face activities may fall further

Electronic Offline

+4%

+1%

-1%

-1%

%%

Q. How much time do you expect to spend on these interactions in the future?


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Texting, using Facebook and chatting online are far more prevalent amongst

younger social media users.

%

Q. How often do you interact electronically in each of the following ways?


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Women are much greater users of text messaging and Facebook than men

amongst this group

%

Q. How often do you interact electronically in each of the following ways?


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No real change in total hours social media users spend socialising each day in the

past year online or offline

%

allso

cialmediause

rs

Hours socialising per day

social media users believe they spend around 3.5 hours a day socialising outside their immediate family,

whether that be online or offline

there has been no significant change between this year and last in the total amount of time spent

socialising


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A growing proportion of all social interactions are electronic for social media users

%

allsocialmediausers

% of all social interaction via electronic means

electronic interactions are playing an increasing role in providing connections for social media users with

on average 36% of all social interactions now being electronic (33% one year ago)

33% of respondents (up from 29% a year ago) claim that half or more of their social interactions are

now electronic


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Many people know they are spending more time on electronic interaction than they

were last year and many expect it to grow

Q. Do you spend more or less time on electronic

interactions than you did a year ago?

Q. Do you expect more or less of your social life to

be online in the future compared to now?


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Q. Because of time spent using electronic media, describe how daily electronic interactions with your

family compares with the past.

But there are greater levels of electronic interaction with family members

compared to a year or two ago

+10%

+6%

0%

0%

%


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Is social media just a passing fad? Only 19% of users think so.

Strongly

agree

Strongly

disagreeNeutral

disagreement that social media is just a passing fad rises from 37% to 42% amongst those aged 18-24,

while women are also slightly more enthusiastic

%


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29% of social media users do see a distinct difference between online and offline

interaction for them the two are not so easily interchangeable.

Strongly

agree

Strongly

disagreeNeutral

22% of 18-24 year olds agree with this statement but disagreement rises to 35% amongst this age group

compared to 29% of all those surveyed

%


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Online versus Offline relationships


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A relaxed attitude to posting compromising pictures of friends isnt

just limited to the young.

%

Strongly

agreeAgree


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Almost a third of social media users weekly social relationships are conducted only

electronically. There is also circumstantial evidence that social media allows

individuals to maintain more relationships

Electronic-only relationships 16

Face to face only 17

Both electronic and face to face 20

I would like my social life on and offline to stay about the same as it is now as I feel that is at a good

balance. I think that online is a good way of keeping in touch with people who live far away so you

don't lose contact.


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Uses of social media and its development pt 1

Social media can be about keeping in touch with people who are physically further away while keeping

others at arms length

I keep a small group of close friends with whom I associate face to face. I keep distant and not so

familiar friends via electronic means

I would like both [offline and online socialising] to increase but sometimes do not have the time and

where offline is concerned a lot of friends do not live near me as I have moved away.

Online is great to keep in touch with people that are far away, but people who boast about having

10,000 "friends" on Facebook for example, make me laugh (and cry)

It can also be central to users day to day social lives, facilitating offline activities or just updating

friends

I see social online as a way of keeping in touch and up to date until the offline meetings. It is not a

substitute but a convenient way of arranging or passing info

I use my online social life to organise my offline one.I would hope for my social life offline to continue to be more important and just supplemented by

online communication.


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Uses of social media and its development pt 2

Some forecast, or hope for, a decline in social medias popularityI think that facebook and other social networking sites will reduce in popularity, and that people will

start getting together more offline

I hope that online social interaction becomes less popular forcing us all to be more social offline.

Hopefully it's just a fad.

People need to stop being obsessed with social networking sites and communicate properly - even

the odd text is better than writing on my wall!

I hope that online interaction will not be as important as it seems to be today. I think it will always be

there but not has hyped-up as it is at the moment.

I want an offline future, Im not interested in facebook etc anymore

Others look towards more electronic communicationI think my social life can only get better as we get more electronic comms stuff.

The outlook seems to be a more disconnected and impersonal way to communicate as the internet

and electronic messaging becomes more and more socially necessary.

I want better streaming ability for video conferencing and video calling

Evidence of some extreme use of social media sites and a desire to personalise/tailor themI hope the few of my friends who arent still on fb get on it soon, cos I almost forgot about them

I would like online socialising to be even more customisable and less about showing off! I think it can

encourage egotism - I would like separate networks for home, family, work etc


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Benefits and Drawbacks


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Electronic interaction is more convenient (53%) while social media enhances many

peoples social lives offline (32%), but on balance it doesnt make people more

sociable offline, much to many peoples regret.

Strongly

agree

Strongly

disagreeNeutral

I would hope that in the future I still have a great offline social life because I love meeting up with

people, but being online can make it easier to arrange offline activities.


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For many, social media is at a tipping point of satisfaction - only 11% wish more of

their social life was online though 32% expect more social interactions to move

online. 41% wish for more face to face socialising.

Strongly

agree

Strongly

disagreeNeutral

I want an offline future, Im not interested in facebook etc anymore


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A small minority of predominantly younger users are dissatisfied with their social

lives. A quarter of the sample consider themselves more sociable online, and 1 in 5

admit social media is a substitute for their offline social life.

Strongly

agree

Strongly

disagreeNeutral

I hope my social life improves offline, but online I have a very good one that I wouldn't want changed.


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Electronic media interactions are a double-edged sword; they have led to

greater political and humanitarian engagement for many but less for some

Local political issues

British political issues

Global political issues

Global humanitarian

issues

Knowledge of other

parts of the world

15%16%

Less More

13% 22%

11% 24%

11% 22%

27%10%

Q. Based on electronic media interactions, how connected do you feel to the following topics compared

with a year ago?


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Activities expected to go onlineThere is cause for some concern as more activities are expected to go online than

people want.

Activities expect to be replaced by electronic interaction

Meetings 40

Conferences 39

Networking 36

Lectures 35

Interviews 18

Business social occasions 10

None 21

Want

online

Want

offline

31 3025 25

19 23

29 33

18 48

7 35

30 16


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Online personality and the influence of anonymity


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For 42% of social media users, interacting online is a liberating experience

which can reduce their inhibitions and empower themStrongly

agree

Strongly

disagreeNeutral

I love the anonymity of social online interaction and that is why I feel uninhibited online


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Online commercial activities


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Commercial and media involvement advertising is welcome

(within reason) but business must be careful

Strongly

agree

Strongly

disagreeNeutral

What do you hope from your social life online and offline in the future?


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What do you hope from your social life online and offline in the future?

As my life changes and develops i appreciate that keeping in contact

with friends may be more constrained and therefore having a ''social

online environment'' in which i can interact with them is ideal.

However i still appreciate that online is not better than face to face

and never will be, a healthy mix is required!

I hope to increase my offline sociallife whilst decreasing online.

I hope that online interaction will not be as

important as it seems to be today. I think it

will always be there but not has hyped-up

as it is at the moment.

I want to see more people offline if they are close

to me, online is useful for keeping in touch with

people I live a long way from.

I hope that online encounters will lead to more

face to face opportunities but it's difficult

because the internet allows people from many

different parts of the world to get to know each

other, so distance is a big problem.

For them not to meet each other. When I'm in the pub, the

last thing I can stand is someone checking their facebook

page on their mobile.

Offline, I'd like it to remain as it is. I spend lots of time with

friends and family doing social and cultural activities. Online,I'd hope it stays the same, which is a bit of fun and slightly

enhanced awareness of what friends / family are doing.

I am easily contactable online as are my friends

and we enjoy updating our friends on what we've

been up to.

I want more ways of interacting to

replicate the subtleties of face-to-face

interaction.

Just to have a good group

of friends, whether online

or offline.

That my social life offline becomes a bigger part of

my life.

Just to have a good group of

friends, whether online or offline.

I hope that I can socialise with friends

abroad more in the future, for example

on webcams, and find more specialised

interest groups online to meet up with

people off line


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UK versus US comparison

A duplicate survey was completed by 1,228 US social media users

C i UK d US i l di


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Comparing UK and US social media users

UK social media users have voiced their opinions in others ways, for instance being far more likely to

lash out at friends online (UK 17% vs 9% US) and at employers (UK16% vs 9% US).

Also UK social media users are nearly twice as likely to claim they have lied online compared to their

US counterparts (UK 19% vs 10% US)

UK and US social media users are broadly similar, holding similar views and using social media in similar ways. US

activity seems a little more advanced and some differences are noted.

Future

expectations

Social media

benefits

US users are even less likely to believe social media is just a fad (US 51% vs 37% UK saying it is not

a fad)

A third in both countries think more of their social life will go online in the future

UK users are more concerned that face to face socialising will reduce but both countries

want/prefer more face to face social contact a quarter (25%) of UK respondents say online socialising makes them more sociable offline,

compared to just 14% in the US

both groups commonly blend online and offline to maximise their social life, using it to keep in touch

with more remote contacts ,as well as to better organise offline activity

US social media users are more likely to have met new people online (US 54% vs 44% UK)

Electronic social

activities

18-24 year olds in the UK are the greatest daily users of Facebook, texting and online chat and itdecreases with age but in the US these three activities peak amongst 25-34s

daily texting rises to 50% of users in the UK versus 30% in US, while 27% chat online daily in the

US versus only 15% in the UK

Community &

political

engagement

Online character

US respondents are far more likely to have been engaged by politics and social community

activities through social media. This may have been influenced by the 2008 Presidential Election

in which case it will be interesting to see if there are any similar effects in the UK in coming months


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Summary and Implications for Brands


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Summary: the role of online social media and its effect

Growing use

Increased role of

electronic

interaction

online social media use is growing and users expect their own use to grow further:

there is evidence it is replacing family face-to-face time but it also allows people tomaintain a wider circle of contacts on a more regular basis

2/3 of users weekly social relations are conducted electronically to some extent, with

almost 1/3 being solely electronic. Social media itself is not seen as fad and is

expected to grow alongside other electronic methods of interaction

Evidence of

satiation

online social media is reaching a tipping point for some, with too many interactions

being conducted online for users liking amid concern that more will move online to the

potential detriment of our (face to face) social lives

Engagement in

issues

for some people online social media has led to a greater engagement in local or

international issues, helping to develop communities but this is far from universal,

however the US example proves there may be more potential in the UK

Convenience &

empowerment

social media provides convenience; making it easier to stay in touch, to share, plan

activities, and interact with new people. And the online environment can provide

empowerment; freeing inhibitions and giving control


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Brands: getting involved in online social media

Advertising around social media is appreciated if it can help keep sites free of

charge to use

Brands who get more involved with social media sites need to be very careful that

they fit in, that they enter under users terms and they add something to the party

(convenient/useful or entertaining), then benefits will be seen

Brands must take time to find out the kind of engagement and level of

engagement that users consider appropriate and when users are likely to most

value it

Use online social media like consumers do blend it with offline and developindividual relationships around your consistent brand character

...and watch out for those compromising photographs!

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There are some clear messages coming through for commercial organisations to

consider:


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Euro RSCG Biss Lancaster Social Media Whitepaper