Social Media - Hype, Hoopla and Trends

There has been a lot of hype and hoopla about Social Media applications in recent times ..how their influence is increasing by the minute and how they are impacting what people think, buy, search or look for etc. So I thought of doing my own analysis about how each of these SM applications are doing.


The difficult part was where to start?? I relied on the experts to do it for me: Google. Google has an excellent feature called Google Trends which in my opinion can be an excellent indicator of the online popularity of anything searchable using a "keyword". You can find more information on how Google trends works @ http://bit.ly/9bvjCh.


So I used Google Trends to analyse the popularity of various SM channels and below are some interesting observations. But before I go in any further detail a small disclaimer: Please note that the below illustrations only depict the popularity standings of these SM apps on Google Search and may be completed unrelated to their financial and market standings. And second, I have included only those apps I am aware of , the rest, you need to get your act together :) [Bcos many people like myself still don't know you exist!!]

Note: You can click on each of these images to enlarge the image and have a better view.


Facebook
We all know the popularity of facebook is increasing by the day and as is obvious from the graph below. But what surprises me is that United States does not even feature in the Top10 regions and the list is lead by Turkey followed by Croatia. The popularity of facebook in these two countries is also evident if you look at the top cities and the languages list.

Google Buzz

It seems the popularity of Google Buzz was very short lived. There is only one spike probably around the time it was launched, the curiosity seems to have died there after. But it seems the Asian countries have taken a liking to it. The top four countries are Asian countries with India leading the pack. By language Indonesian is leading the pack.. looks like providing the app in the local language is doing the trick for Buzz in Indonesia 

Twitter

The Brazilians seem to have embraced Twitter quite well; as is evident from all three lists but what is surprising is Waterloo, Canada at the top of city list. A small search in Google Maps told me that it's a small town in Ontario. What is happening here?? Does the whole town every night sits and searches for Twitter on google..just for fun?? How come it left big cities like London and LA behind? Is google taking population vs per head searches into consideration for rank calculation?? I am not sure... Another strange thing is that although Indonesian features as the top language, none of the south east Asian countries feature in the list.

Foursquare
Foursquare featured in my earlier post - http://bit.ly/9SjFrG and I am happy to see it growing leaps and bounds :) Not many surprises here US and Canada lead the pack as does English in the languages list. The Northwestern states are taking the lead in using this location based SM app. Again Waterloo features prominently..this town seems to have a knack for mobile SM apps!!

Gowalla
Another location based mobile SM app which describes itself as "an app born in the heart of Texas" rules the heart of Texas :) if you take a look at the cities list. Although the popularity of the app seem to have taken a drastic dip in recent times, it seems to be quite popular in the western European countries with them taking 7 of the top 10 spots and Swedish, Dutch, German and English being the most popular languages.

Linkedin
Though it is more a professional networking site but it's popularity has been steadily growing over the years. Not surprising with the number of calls I frequently get these days from recruiters who have seen my linkedin profile :). I believe this is one of the most constructive uses of the SM concept. Also the way these guys have been constantly improving the site and making the experience better..they deserve the fan following :)

Loopt
This is another location based mobile SM and is extremely popular in Netherlands (all 10 spots in Cities) and the top language is Dutch. Shows the power of providing the Local content in the Local language. Also that you don't need always need a new idea to be successful, you can put the existing to a better use :) India features poorly in all these location based SM apps which indicates an opportunity here for the entrepreneurs. Any takers???

Myspace
Myspace was one of the most successful SMs and then became a big disaster. I am not sure about the reasons though you can clearly see a decline here ( probably you can find more here - http://bit.ly/9VpeaV. )But it is still quite popular in the US (Top 10 cities) and the top region.

Have you foursquare'd yet?

Please note this post is already available at my other blog @ http://sankhyatantra.blogspot.com . But since I started this blog to specifically write on similar topics, I am reposting it here.
Ah.. found something exciting once again on the web: Foursquare (foursquare.com)
The Foursquare website describes itself as a means ".. to meet up with friends and discover new places!.."
The app mainly aims at letting your friends know what all places you visit and help you share your experiences with them. Say you visit a restaurant...all your friends would instantly know that you are there, if anybody is around they can visit you. Not only that there are host of other features that make it exciting
...so much so that people have started touting it as the next twitter :)

Got to know about Foursquare from the following: http://bit.ly/bZ1Esb . So decided to check it out and was not disappointed at all. In one of my earlier posts ( http://bit.ly/9ZeWno ) I mentioned how a new innovation quickly leads to the other. foursquare is a classic example of that. It derives its roots from twitter. In-fact, IMHO, it's a sweet combination of twitter and "word of mouth" publicity.


How does it work?
First of all you need to download the app on your phone. The website offers customized apps for iphone, android, blackberry and palm. Other mobile users with browsers can visit the mobile website. For people with non browser phones, they have an sms number where you can send your current location (the service is currently available only for US users though).


Visit Places or Check-in
Whenever you visit a place a check-in happens. Each visit is a check-in and there are points associated with it. There are points for late nights, visiting new places, taking friends etc

Earn Points and become the Mayor
As you keep visiting or checking in at various places, you keep earning points and unlocking badges. And if you become a person who has visited a place more than anyone else, you become the "Mayor" of that place ( there are benefits of being a Mayor)


Share your experience with your friends
You can also offer tips to your friends..visited a restaurant and if there is a dish on the Menu that you absolutely love!!..just let your friends know and recommend it. That ways you not only recommend a restaurant but what would be the best possible thing to order there..


Why businesses love it :)
For businesses it's an excellent and fun way of promoting loyalty. The "Mayors" are offered freebies and other benefits which encourages them to visit the place time and again.And remember a Mayor can dislodged from his position by others by earning more points..so more competition..more customers vying for the "Mayor"ship..better for your business :)


See Reports
The best thing is probably this one which was sadly missing in Twitter. An individual can see what all places he has visited, how many times, points earned etc. Similarly businesses can see the number of check-ins both new and repeat and keep a tab on the new clientele they are attracting as well as customer loyalty and retention.