London 2012 will be the social media Olympics. Obviously we are 4 years on from Beijing with 4 years of advancement, but this time there will is official integration of social media assets with the Olympics. Plus athletes and competitors will be online, tweeting their experiences (where they are allowed to of course) and part of an Olympics online hub which showcases all the athletes and promotes their Twitter and Facebook pages. 

This will enable audiences to have real-time text chats with competitors. Get insight into the preparations before the games as well as any Olympic village party after the London Olympics.

Twitter will be the perfect supplementary media to watching the games on TV. For Europeans who will be at work during many of the events Twitter will be deluged on a daily basis with Olympic related trending topics, especially as some of the big stars enjoy over 10million followers.

TV audiences too are obviously expected to increase above and beyond Beijing which enjoyed 4.3 Billion viewers in 2008, with 2 billion watching the opening ceremony alone. (source Nielsen)

Evolution of Olympic coverage:

Print and Radio to Facebook and Twitter via The Wall

Well one of these things looks like its close to being built by Google’s secretive X Lab – and it’s not the hovercraft.

The invention in question is called Project Glass, where Google released photos and posted a video to YouTube to preview the company’s long-rumoured activity in the spectacle business.

What is Google Project Glass?

Well Project Glass looks like Google is attempting to give everyone total, uninhibited access to all its clever applications (such as Maps and Google+ etc) in a pair of glasses – while you walk down the street. Have a look at this typical Google-style promotion video, where the guy in question uses all the services to the betterment of his existence.

Who knows Tomorrow’s World would probably still be with us if the inventors in the show said said “Hey Dude?” and had a chintzy guitar tune in the background.

But surely, as a poster on the Guardian blog said: “You already have a machine that does all this. it is called a brain.”

Google Glass Parody

We think this is what Google Glass would more likely be like. But surely Google won’t be placing adverts on the glasses, they wouldn’t do something like that.

We’re so used to reading big numbers within the social industry that they are having less impact. Despite that, these social media usage figures are colossal. The 7,610 Linked-in searches was the most surprising to me, that’s a lot of recruitment executives and sales people online in any one minute. 

As for the 700,000 Facebook messages, that’s a hell of a lot of typos.

Anyway here it is…

60 Seconds in Social Media

Pinterest the next big thing?

There was a time a few years ago when there was a new big social-media thing every day, and everyone in the industry or friendship group pretended they knew what it was about “Yeah i know that site, it’s really cool, i’m on it all the time.” We would all lie.

Last year the real big thing was the photo sharing site and award winning app Instagram, but this year it is Pinterest – Another photo sharing site that is getting rave reviews in the US, and reassuringly it is not owned by Google, yet. Nor does it have a light blue logo – which is nice. 

So What is Pinterest?

Well we all love photos. Words are so boring to look at in our busy lives. Pinterest taps into our creative and visual minds by offering an online notice board to share images. Once you’ve gained access to the site you’ll be able to ‘pin’ photos you’ve found on the internet or uploaded to the board based on categories, keywords and site groupings. These photos can be anything from cute cats, hilarious one-liners, to holiday homes and valentine gift ideas.

It’s semi-controlled anarchy. 

You can search the separate pin boards by category, which are grouped by interest with the usual groupings of technology, travel, humour etc etc. Then as with Facebook you can like a photo or comment on it.

You can also search groupings by sites that have been pinned. For example if you are looking for a holiday cottage, you could search Tripadvisor’s pages or for look at all the Tumblir sites. This brings me on to the benefits of SEO. Users who pin a photo actually get a direct link to the site where they found the photo. This therefore maybe abused by spammers in the future.

There are however Pinterest guidelines of etiquette, if photos are too obviously pushing a product or a service, then they are removed.

Here’s what Pinterest say about themselves:

“Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.”

What are Pinterest’s site stats?

This new photo sharing platform has grown by 4,000% in 6 months and according to Comscore, Pinterest’s unique monthly visitors are already over 11 million, making it the fastest standalone website to surpass the 10 million mark in the US. (This is debated and argued by Formspring over at Techcrunch)

However Pinterest started in 2006 but redesigned and re-launched their offering two years ago, so these stats are slightly debatable, but ether way they have had a massive growth in the last 6 months and have a very engaged and loyal following. This is highlighted in the chart below which was taken from techcrunch and Comscore data. (Nice watermark from Techcrunch)

So Why should I use Pinterest?

It is actually really addictive. New photos are being pinned every second. There is so much on there that it actually hurts the brain a bit. I want to search images, then i want to search the people who put them up and so on. But who knows, this maelstrom of information could be its long term downfall or indeed its success.

The the main issue for me is that it is so massive. Being American there is also an obvious leaning to that country’s culture, for example all the sport photos are predominantly basketball etc. But that’s a minor gripe.

The site is so beautifully and seamless put together that, I may not go there every day, but when I do it is a much more gratifying way to search images than Google images.

I’ve seen previous research done in this area in one instance the searches conducted were for actual Wikipedia page titles, which of course it would do well in. So we searched nouns (Def. A word used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things) from a couple of random noun generators. A full list of the words we searched are below.

The Methodology of Wikipedia Research:

• We used a random noun generator to obtain the keyword
• We then searched that keyword on Google UK (the internet)
• To get around any personalisation issues we used Google Chrome Incognito browser
• The search settings were ten results per page
• There was no other filtering of search results within Google’s settings.
• We did not include shopping or video results within our count (as these were additional to the 10 on a page)
• We searched from Brighton, south England
• We made 1,000 unique searches, any duplicates were removed and re-searched.

The Results:

• Wikipedia is Page One of Google for 99% of searches (of nouns)
• Wikipedia is position one of Google for 56% of searches
• 96% of searches had Wikipedia in position 1-5 on Google

 How the positions were shared (total 1,000 searches)

Position One dominance

As you can see from the charts, 96% of the searches landed in the top 5 positions.

Is Wikipedia’s dominance deserved?

We all love Wikipedia, but should it really be so prominent and all conquering in Google? We know that Wikipedia is a vast site with millions of pages and thousands of editors offering unique vital content on multitudes of subject matters. But should Wikipedia be the de-facto resource for pretty much all subjects? Surely some pages are riding on the back of other quality pages or perhaps lazy references to the site from businesses and bloggers across the internet. Google obviously loves Wikipedia and still ranks it despite there being next to zero content on some of the pages.

Percentage Share of Wikipedia positions in Google UK across 1,000 keyword searches

General Observations

Unsurprisingly Wikipedia, did extremely well (top two positions generally) for old-school encyclopaedic searches. What I mean by this is searches with any geographical, scientific or natural reference. For example Himalayan, bird and paediatrician. This was expected, but more surprising is that it also did extremely well for food substances and clothing. I’d imagine butter, milk and mayonnaise as well as trousers, underclothes and wallet would be fought over tooth and nail by large corporations within their respective industries.

Some flawed results from Google

When searching for the word “Air” in Google there are so many results that could have come up in the SERPs: Adobe Air software, Nike Air trainers, the French Band, Apple Air laptop, any Airline, a science page on the make-up of our atmosphere.

But no. In second place is the Wikipedia page, not for any of the above, but a disambiguation page for the term “Air”. How can this page, which is ultimately full of links to other Wikipedia pages, is short of real content, and presumably not linked to by external authoritative sites, the second best possible result for this huge search? This is where there are ultimately flaws in Google’s offering of Wikipedia content.

Google Loves Wikipedia – But Why?

So is Google being lazy? Does it feel that at least one result needs to be there, is that an unwritten law within the algorithm? However, after reading this article about SEO bad for the Internet, it got me thinking, that if there was one place taken up in every search by Wikipedia, then that would mean there is one less place in the Top Ten for possible PPC paying corporations. Just a thought, not a fact.

The ones that got away

There are so few that were not on Page One that I can list them here.

• Mail
• news
• trainers
• national
• sweets
• wardrobe
• phone
• flight

All these words are obviously highly competitive or incorporate the word within major corporations and services (for example National).

Feedback

We will be re-doing this research again soon. We will be using different random noun generators too (maybe even human generated ones). But if anyone has any questions about the methodology or recommendations please leave a comment.

The Full List of 1,000 searches and their positions in Google

Word	Position	Word	Position	Word	Position	Word	Position
Aries	1	Illegal	1	Tiger	1	Result	2
Aardvark	1	Insect	1	Timbale	1	review	2
abigail	1	Instrument	1	Timpani	1	Rhinoceros	2
Acrylic	1	Interest	1	Tire	1	Ricardo	2
Actor	1	Invention	1	Titanium	1	Ring	2
Adapter	1	Island	1	Toe	1	Rowboat	2
Addition	1	Israel	1	Toenail	1	Sagittarius	2
Agave	1	Jacket	1	Tortoise	1	Salesman	2
Agreement	1	Jam	1	Town	1	scarf	2
Alley	1	James	1	Tray	1	Second	2
Alloy	1	Japanese	1	Treatment	1	Secure	2
Almanac	1	Jaw	1	Trial	1	Seed	2
almond	1	Jewel	1	Trombone	1	Session	2
aluminium	1	Join	1	trousers	1	Shade	2
Amy	1	jug	1	Trowel	1	Sidewalk	2
Andy	1	June	1	Trumpet	1	Signature	2
Anger	1	Jute	1	Tuba	1	Sister	2
Angora	1	Kamikaze	1	Turkey	1	Snowflake	2
Ankle	1	Kenya	1	Twine	1	Snowstorm	2
Antarctica	1	Kevin	1	Ukrainian	1	Soccer	2
Anteater	1	Kilometer	1	Underclothes	1	soda	2
Apology	1	Kite	1	Unshielded	1	Sort	2
Argument	1	Knife	1	Uzbekistan	1	spray	2
Ashtray	1	Knot	1	Vacation	1	Square	2
Asia	1	Kohlrabi	1	Valley	1	Step-grandmother	2
Asparagus	1	Ladybug	1	Value	1	Step-sister	2
Asphalt	1	larger	1	Van	1	Stinger	2
Attention	1	Laundry	1	Venezuelan	1	Stocking	2
Author	1	Lead	1	Verse	1	store	2
Authority	1	Leather	1	Vicki	1	Suede	2
Baboon	1	Legal	1	Viola	1	Suit	2
Back	1	Limit	1	Vise	1	Swimming	2
bacon	1	Liquid	1	Volcano	1	Swiss	2
Badge	1	Literature	1	Waiter	1	Swordfish	2
Bagel	1	Locust	1	Wallet	1	T-shirt	2
Balance	1	Love	1	wand	1	Tabletop	2
Ball	1	Luis	1	Watchmaker	1	Thailand	2
Bankbook	1	Lumber	1	Weasel	1	Thursday	2
Barge	1	Lunch	1	Weed	1	Triangle	2
Baritone	1	Lute	1	Wheel	1	Truck	2
Battery	1	Lyocell	1	Whiskey	1	video	2
Bee	1	lyra	1	White	1	Vision	2
beer	1	Maid	1	Winter	1	wales	2
Beetle	1	Male	1	Withdrawal	1	Wash	2
Begonia	1	Manager	1	Woman	1	Weight	2
Bengal	1	Maraca	1	Wood	1	Whistle	2
Berry	1	Marble	1	wooden	1	Window	2
Bibliography	1	Marimba	1	Worm	1	Window	2
Bird	1	Mass	1	Wound	1	Wing	2
Birth	1	Mattock	1	Wrench	1	wipe	2
biscuit	1	Mayonnaise	1	Wrinkle	1	zebra	2
blimp	1	Meal	1	Xylophone	1	Acoustic	3
blouse	1	Meeting	1	Yacht	1	Alibi	3
Blowgun	1	Melody	1	Yak	1	Apparel	3
Bomber	1	Mercury	1	Year	1	Apple	3
Bonsai	1	Message	1	yoga	1	Bag	3
border	1	Metal	1	yogurt	1	Bakery	3
Bottle	1	Methane	1	Yoke	1	Bank	3
bottle	1	Mexican	1	Zoology	1	Bath	3
Bread	1	Mexico	1	Account	2	bench	3
Breath	1	Michael	1	Air	2	Burn	3
bridge	1	michelle	1	Airplane	2	Century	3
Broccoli	1	Middle	1	Alcohol	2	Chain	3
Broker	1	milk	1	Animal	2	Channel	3
Bronze	1	Millimeter	1	Ant	2	Chill	3
Buffet	1	Millisecond	1	Appliance	2	Cord	3
Bugle	1	Mini-skirt	1	Approval	2	Dan	3
Bulb	1	Minister	1	Aquarius	2	debt	3
Burma	1	Missile	1	Arch	2	Direction	3
Butcher	1	Monday	1	Area	2	Discovery	3
Butter	1	moon	1	Armadillo	2	Dish	3
C-clamp	1	Morning	1	Army	2	Downtown	3
Cabbage	1	Morocco	1	Arrow	2	draw	3
Calf	1	Mosque	1	Athlete	2	Dugout	3
Can	1	mountain	1	Atm	2	Equipment	3
Canadian	1	muffin	1	Attic	2	event	3
can	1	nelson	1	australia	2	Find	3
candle	1	Neon	1	Australian	2	Fireman	3
canoe	1	Niece	1	Avenue	2	Fireplace	3
Cardboard	1	Nitrogen	1	Banker	2	Freeze	3
carrot	1	North america	1	Bar	2	Game	3
Cart	1	North korea	1	Beat	2	Garage	3
Cat	1	Nose	1	Beauty	2	Gate	3
Cattle	1	November	1	Bench	2	Government	3
Cauliflower	1	Numeric	1	Birthday	2	Grenade	3
Ceiling	1	Oboe	1	Blizzard	2	Hammer	3
Celery	1	Observation	1	blog	2	Hockey	3
Celsius	1	Odometer	1	Blow	2	Innocent	3
Ceramic	1	Offer	1	Bobcat	2	Interactive	3
Cereal	1	Operation	1	Bongo	2	Jennifer	3
ceylon	1	Organic	1	Boy	2	Joseph	3
chalk	1	Organisation	1	Britney	2	Knickers	3
Chauffeur	1	Ounce	1	Cabinet	2	Look	3
Cheetah	1	Output	1	Cactus	2	magnet	3
Cherry	1	Oven	1	Call	2	Maple	3
Chicken	1	Oxygen	1	Capricorn	2	microwave	3
Chef	1	Package	1	career	2	Motion	3
Child	1	Pancake	1	Carnation	2	Nerve	3
chilli	1	Pansy	1	Carol	2	Norwegian	3
Chin	1	Parallelogram	1	Caspar	2	orange	3
China	1	Parent	1	Cast	2	Pair	3
Christmas	1	Parentheses	1	Cathedral	2	Parrot	3
Cicada	1	paris	1	Caution	2	Peak	3
client	1	Part	1	Celeste	2	perfume	3
Cockroach	1	Particle	1	Chance	2	Polo	3
coffee	1	Passbook	1	Character	2	Powder	3
Coil	1	pastor	1	Chard	2	queen	3
coil	1	Patch	1	Charles	2	Quill	3
Cold	1	Pediatrician	1	Chive	2	Raft	3
College	1	Peen	1	Chocolate	2	Railway	3
Colombia	1	Period	1	Circle	2	Ryan	3
Colon	1	Peru	1	Cod	2	Science	3
colour	1	photographer	1	Colony	2	Screen	3
Comb	1	pipe	1	Color	2	Shell	3
Committee	1	Pisces	1	Cook	2	Shoe	3
Competition	1	Plant	1	Cost	2	Shorts	3
Composition	1	Plantation	1	Couch	2	Show	3
Computer	1	Plastic	1	cream	2	Sparrow	3
Congo	1	Plot	1	cream	2	Spoon	3
Consonant	1	Poison	1	Creek	2	Spot	3
copper	1	Poland	1	Crocus	2	Spring	3
copier	1	Policeman	1	cromwell	2	Stage	3
Copyright	1	Polish	1	Cuban	2	Stem	3
Cough	1	Polyester	1	Current	2	Taxi	3
Crab	1	Porch	1	curry	2	Team	3
Crack	1	Porcupine	1	Curve	2	Test	3
Cristiano	1	Porter	1	daimond	2	Thistle	3
cupboard	1	Potato	1	David	2	Tile	3
Curler	1	Pound	1	Department	2	tripod	3
Cushion	1	Power	1	Deposit	2	Velvet	3
Custard	1	Prepared	1	Destruction	2	walker	3
Cymbal	1	Print	1	Detail	2	western	3
Dancer	1	Prison	1	Development	2	whisky	3
Dead	1	Produce	1	Diamond	2	Wilderness	3
Death	1	project	1	Diaphragm	2	Wish	3
Deborah	1	Propane	1	Difference	2	Witness	3
December	1	Pumpkin	1	Digger	2	Wonder	3
Decimal	1	Pvc	1	Digital	2	Word	3
Deodorant	1	Pyjama	1	Dinner	2	Advice	4
Description	1	Quart	1	Doubt	2	base	4
Desert	1	Quarter	1	Dream	2	Beam	4
Dessert	1	Quartz	1	Drop	2	Bedroom	4
device	1	Quicksand	1	Dungeon	2	Ben	4
Dimple	1	Rabbi	1	East	2	Bite	4
Distributor	1	Rabbi	1	Education	2	boots	4
dog	1	Rabbit	1	Elbow	2	bus	4
Dolphin	1	Radish	1	Elephant	2	Cap	4
Donald	1	Rain	1	Elizabeth	2	Car	4
Double	1	Rainbow	1	End	2	channel	4
dragon	1	Rat	1	Engine	2	Close	4
Drake	1	ratchet	1	Environment	2	core	4
Drawbridge	1	Ravioli	1	Ex-husband	2	Cover	4
drawer	1	Receipt	1	Farmer	2	Creator	4
Dredger	1	Rectangle	1	Feast	2	Cycle	4
Dressing	1	Regret	1	Feeling	2	Dad	4
Drink	1	Report	1	festival	2	Ease	4
Driver	1	Rest	1	Flame	2	Fact	4
Drug	1	Retailer	1	Flock	2	Forest	4
Ear	1	Reward	1	Flower	2	Ghost	4
economy	1	Rhythm	1	Fly	2	Hallway	4
Eel	1	Rice	1	Fold	2	hammer	4
eight	1	road	1	food	2	Health	4
Ellipse	1	Robyn	1	Footnote	2	Icon	4
Employer	1	Rocket	1	Freckle	2	kestrel	4
Engineer	1	Rod	1	Freya	2	laptop	4
envelope	1	Romania	1	Friction	2	leon	4
Error	1	Rose	1	Friday	2	Mailbox	4
Ethiopia	1	Rule	1	Frog	2	Name	4
Exclamation	1	Russia	1	Frost	2	Open	4
Existence	1	Sail	1	Gander	2	Phil	4
extension	1	Sailor	1	Gazelle	2	Plasterboard	4
Eyelash	1	Salary	1	Gearshift	2	Police	4
Fahrenheit	1	Sampan	1	Giraffe	2	Postbox	4
Fairies	1	Sand	1	glass	2	Quit	4
Fang	1	sandwich	1	globe	2	Reading	4
Father-in-law	1	sauce	1	Glue	2	record	4
Feather	1	sausage	1	Goggles	2	Request	4
February	1	Saxophone	1	Gong	2	School	4
Felony	1	Scale	1	Good-bye	2	Seashore	4
Female	1	Scarecrow	1	Gore-tex	2	Street	4
Fertilizer	1	Scent	1	Grade	2	string	4
Fiber	1	Scorpio	1	Graphic	2	Theory	4
Fiberglass	1	scotch	1	greek	2	Transport	4
Fiction	1	Screwdriver	1	Grey	2	Walk	4
Fir	1	Seagull	1	Gum	2	Warm	4
fish	1	Seal	1	Handle	2	Watch	4
Fisherman	1	Servant	1	Hardhat	2	wine	4
Flesh	1	Shadow	1	Hayley	2	wire	4
flip-flop	1	Shark	1	Head	2	Act	5
Flute	1	sheep	1	Heart	2	Answer	5
Force	1	Shoemaker	1	Helicopter	2	Baker	5
Forgery	1	Shoulder	1	Hip	2	Card	5
Fork	1	Shrine	1	History	2	case	5
Fortnight	1	Siamese	1	Hobbies	2	Caterpillar	5
Fowl	1	Side	1	Hood	2	Decrease	5
Foxglove	1	Skin	1	Hovercraft	2	Driving	5
Freighter	1	Slipper	1	Hydrant	2	Exchange	5
fruit	1	slipper	1	Icicle	2	Exhaust	5
garlic	1	Slope	1	Index	2	Font	5
garnish	1	Smell	1	Inventory	2	frame	5
Gasoline	1	Snowboarding	1	Jason	2	Gym	5
gastronomy	1	socket	1	Joke	2	Jet	5
Gauge	1	Soil	1	Judo	2	Jonny	5
Geology	1	Soprano	1	Jumbo	2	Map	5
Geranium	1	South africa	1	jumper	2	monitor	5
German	1	Soybean	1	Key	2	Passenger	5
Girdle	1	spaghetti	1	Kick	2	tube	5
Gladiolus	1	Spain	1	klaxon	2	Cinema	6
glaze	1	Spear	1	ladel	2	Dryer	6
gloves	1	Sphere	1	Lan	2	football	6
Goal	1	Sphynx	1	Link	2	Fragrance	6
Goa	1	Spruce	1	Lion	2	hills	6
goat	1	Squirrel	1	Lipstick	2	jeans	6
Goose	1	state	1	Lisa	2	Loan	6
grape	1	Statement	1	Loss	2	Matt	6
Grass	1	Step-daughter	1	Margin	2	Music	6
Grasshopper	1	Step-mother	1	Mark	2	Paint	6
Gray	1	Stew	1	Market	2	Poppy	6
greek	1	Stock	1	Mechanic	2	Radiator	6
Group	1	Stomach	1	meteor	2	radiator	6
Guilty	1	Stopsign	1	Milkshake	2	station	6
Guitar	1	stream	1	Mind	2	tap	6
Gun	1	Sudan	1	Minibus	2	Tights	6
Gymnast	1	Summer	1	Moat	2	View	6
Hair	1	Sundial	1	Mother	2	zoo	6
Haircut	1	Sunflower	1	Nail	2	Babies	7
Half-sister	1	Support	1	Node	2	Bed	7
Hall	1	Surfboard	1	Octave	2	Burst	7
ham	1	Surname	1	Octopus	2	Calendar	7
Hamburger	1	Sushi	1	Olive	2	Delivery	7
Hard hat	1	Sweater	1	Outrigger	2	Frame	7
harp	1	Swing	1	Owner	2	Freezer	7
Harry	1	Sycamore	1	Ox	2	Insulation	7
Hawk	1	Syrup	1	page	2	Rail	7
Helen	1	Syrup	1	Pail	2	tablecloth	7
Helium	1	System	1	Panda	2	Tent	7
Helmet	1	Tachometer	1	Paperback	2	Baby	9
Hemp	1	Tail	1	Parade	2	coach	9
Heron	1	Tailor	1	Pear	2	hamper	9
Herring	1	Tandoori	1	pencil	2	Replace	9
Himalayan	1	Tank	1	Peony	2	sideboard	9
Hole	1	Taurus	1	Person	2	timer	9
Holly	1	Tea	1	Person	2	Mail	11
Horse	1	Television	1	Ping	2	News	13
Hose	1	temperature	1	Popcorn	2	trainers	13
Humidity	1	Tempo	1	Pot	2	National	14
Hyacinth	1	thigh	1	Printer	2	Sweets	14
Hygienic	1	Thing	1	Puma	2	wardrobe	14
ice-age	1	Thumb	1	Question	2	Phone	18
Ikebana	1	Thunderstorm	1	Quotation	2	Flight	22

Hitwise has reported in a Tweet that Google+ gained 49m US users in traffic last month (December 2011) which equates to a 55% increase from traffic to the social network site in November where it achieved 30m which was up 20% on the previous month of October 2011.

Hitwise also linked to this pretty grainy chart in their Twitter post, showing the rise in Google+ traffic since its launch.

Should Google be Happy with these traffic figures?

We’d imagine Google will be pretty pleased with these figures. 49 million US visitors would, since the naysayers (such as us) turned their noses up at the site on launch. Yes Facebook gets this traffic before breakfast on any given morning, but Google+ is a spring chicken compared to Facebook. Plus if you regard Google+ as a bookmarking site of sorts, then 50million is more than Digg was getting in its prime.

However, this isn’t just some start-up launching a new site. This is Google. There is Google+ icon on every Chrome browser and search result in their search engines. The site was launched with massive fanfare with great expense. Webmasters everywhere have been led to believe that their sites need to have a Google+ icon if it is to succeed in SEO. 50million visitors by month 6, may in fact therefore be far less than Google had hoped.

But we will wait and see if there is a decline in how much traffic Google+ gets in the coming months when the honeymoon period wears off.

When we are all old and grey and watching BBC17′s “The Best Things of the 21st Century” the year 2011 will probably be highlighted as the year Social Media really hit the mainstream.

Everywhere we look there are representations of social media (and told about how big it is). And it’s no real wonder, half the population is on Facebook and it is due to be floated for an eye-watering $100billion in 2012 (already giving Bono $800m profit). Social Media really isn’t new any more, it’s here and it’s absolutely massive.

Social Media and Politics

2011 saw social media have a real impact on global news as well as on the worldwide lexicon. At about the same time that The Social Network was winning Oscars and Golden Globes the countries of North Africa and the Middle East were starting to call for regime change in what has become known as the Arab Spring. Social Media outlets such as You Tube, Facebook and Twitter were utilised to make these calls, highlight the plight of the people and gain media momentum from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya through to Yemen and Syria.

Because of this, Libya became the fastest growing country on Facebook for the second half of 2011.

2011 also saw the release of Wiki-Leaks which spread rapidly through social media, this placed as one of our favourite campaigns of the year.

London Riots and Social Media

Here in the UK we had our own mini-uprising. Violence, looting and riots took place on the streets of London, Manchester, Bristol and beyond. The blame by some was put conveniently at the door-step of social media, many of those same observers felt that social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook should even be switched off in times of emergency. Yes social media is an extremely useful way to get information to a large source quickly, but you can’t blame a communications device for social ills. These extraordinary knee-jerk arguments were quickly put into perspective when social media was used help with the clear up of the riots as well as belittling some of those that were involved.

Social Media for Sky1 Got To Dance

For IP we had an amazing start to the year offering 24-7 live social media interaction for Sky One’s flagship show Got To Dance. People would tweet or make comments on Facebook and seconds later the IP team were feeding the information through to the show’s presenter Davina McCall. It was an extremely rewarding and innovative experience.

That experience in part got me, Sam Silverwood-Cope, invited onto the BAFTA jury for Digital Interactivity award, which Davina won with Million Pound Drop.

Since working on that show and others for ITV, we have kept a close eye on TV and its presence in social media. It seems to be everywhere. Every primetime show has a “Follow Us” on Twitter or use “The Hashtag”. If you saw Kirsty’s Allsop’s Homemade Home show, a social media call to action came up every 5 minutes. Our hints and tips were also used in Broadcasting magazine on this very subject in response to the Twitter COO.

Social Media in 2012

Hopefully in 2012 Social Media will mature a bit, get over the amazement of how big it really is, and get on with making quality dialogue. High level campaigns will excite us all and really aid business growth at the same time. This year has been a bit of a land grab amongst agencies, with little understanding or real explanation.

We predict that Facebook will continue to thrive but businesses may move on to something new. Plus watch out for the ever-powerful blogosphere, they are the new media giants – Facebook may be the blue whale but the blogosphere is the great barrier reef.

Forrester US Interactive Marketing Spend

Forrester research carried out in the field in August 2011 opens by estimating that advertisers will spend US$ 77 billion on interactive marketing by 2016. That is as much as they spend on Television advertising today. They estimate that search, display, mobile, email, and social media will grow to 26% of all advertising spend as they become embedded in the marketing mix.

Forrester make the interesting prediction that this growth in digital marketing will help companies become adaptive, killing off daily discount deals, re-emphasizing the four marketing P’s of Product, Price, Place and Promotion and in doing so turn consumer electronics into audience-targeting tools.

Forrester believe that the key drivers of growth over the next five years will be:

• Bigger interactive teams. Marketers have more interactive staff now than they did in 2009. This doesn’t automatically mean more mature interactive programs or increased budgets. But it usually allows for program expansion. One financial services firm we talked with grew its interactive team from 18 to 70 people in three years. Now it is a top advertiser on many display networks, has tripled its email marketing volume, and has a social PR effort under way.
• Excitement about emerging media. Marketers buy into mobile, social, or online video more now than when the recession forced them to stick with standby interactive tools like email or search. Revenues from PR Newswire’s multimedia products are up 22% this year, compared to 2009 when they were down 3%. And Intuit has a group dedicated to transforming cutting-edge technologies like Kinect into mainstream marketing options. 
• Interactive marketing effectiveness. Marketers will invest more in interactive channels because they believe they will generate better results over time (see Figure 2). David Schwartz, marketing manager for power tool manufacturer STIHL Limited, explains, “People will spend on programs that show measureable returns. And you can measure anything through digital.”

Intelligent Positioning, the world’s first truly global SEO platform provider announced that it was selected by Instyler  to deliver scalable and ROI driven natural search solutions to their global business needs through IP’s leading global SEO platform Intelligent Platform.

The InStyler was born in the US out of a desire to cut down the time it takes to create beautiful hair. A rotating curling iron is combined with a brush in a sleek, innovative design to help you straighten and style at the same time. And now it is having an agressive launch across Europe.

Instyler is taking advantage of IP’s already proven SEO platform and its ability to scale keyword tracking and reporting, automate on-page SEO analysis and provide actionable recommendations to global brands, maximizing their share of search. Now they announced this has been extended to Intelligent Positioning’s as yet unreleased new software suite.

After evaluating multiple natural search tools and platforms, Instyler chose IP for its advanced SEO technology, dedicated SEO thought leadership and expert customer success team. Regular consultations and training mean that Instyler continually identifies new opportunities to increase their search market share, providing a instantly realistic digital experience.

“At Intelligent Positioning we love working with new innovative businesses, who are striving for market recognition in the UK and across Europe, then dominance.” Said Sam Silverwood-Cope, Head of Content .

“The team behind InStyler have extensive experience in discovering innovative products in healthcare and beauty, taking them to market and seeing those products fly off the shelves.”

The impact of Facebook on the Arab Spring

We heard during the revolutions of the Arab Spring that everyday people were using the social network (as well as YouTube and Twitter) to post their videos and their commentary on the events that unfolded.

Facebook groups were being set up across Egypt, Tunisia and Libya criticising the respective governments and voicing the opinions of the people. Facebook was used as a sound board for the people’s plight, especially when the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria were attempting to control conventional media and journalistic freedom. Facebook was utilised to get over any such censorships and voice the opinions of the people on the frontline to the rest of the world. It all started in Tunisia as explained in this piece in The Guardian:

“Ourselves. Our revolution. We put it on Facebook. It’s how we tell the world what’s happening.” a Tunisian revolutionary in Tunis. 

In Egypt, which, unlike Syria, allowed the outside media into the tourist-rich country, the social networks were censored via a cessation of broadband via the providers such as Vodafone.

Though these rises in the Arab Spring affected countries is large, all have started from relatively low levels. However, due to the impact the social networks have had on Tunisia, Libya and Egypt usage will almost certainly continue to grow where broadband and freedom of access is allowed.

Below is a chart showing the 20 countries within which Facebook has grown the most over the last 6 months.  The countries in this list are most notably war-torn or financially emerging nations plus the anomaly of Japan, which is simply a late adopter.

Countries with Fastest Facebook Growth 2011

#	Country	Users	Change	Growth over last 6 months	Penetration
1	Libya	316460	+270 520	588.86%	4.90%
2	Chad	34040	+18 660	121.33%	0.32%
3	Papua New Guinea	65260	+31 540	93.53%	1.10%
4	Laos	109180	+51 720	90.01%	1.56%
5	Vietnam	2893200	+1 331 420	85.25%	3.23%
6	Swaziland	47680	+20 140	73.13%	3.52%
7	São Tomé and Príncipe	3380	+1 360	67.33%	1.92%
8	Brazil	30453260	+12 140 520	66.30%	15.14%
9	Equatorial Guinea	16400	+6 440	64.66%	2.52%
10	Japan	5241440	+1 890 090	56.40%	4.13%
11	Somalia	34020	+11 660	52.15%	0.34%
12	Angola	303280	+101 780	50.51%	2.32%
13	Iraq	1174300	+384 040	48.60%	3.96%
14	Kiribati	3740	+1 220	48.41%	3.31%
15	India	38045000	+12 282 580	47.68%	3.24%
16	Democratic Republic of Congo	836940	+266 180	46.64%	1.18%
17	Cambodia	412360	+130 980	46.55%	2.80%
18	Mozambique	169120	+53 380	46.12%	0.77%
19	Niger	40240	+12 320	44.13%	0.25%
20	Mongolia	236520	+71 380	43.22%	7.66%

Facebook growth India, Brazil and Japan

Remarkably three of the world’s biggest economies are in the fastest growth nations on Facebook.  Japan who are relatively late adopters of Facebook compared to south east Asian partners, only have 5m Facebook users with a pretty measly 4% penetration of population, which is less than Mongolia. This growth therefore is one of acceptance of the westernised social network over other local competitors, rather than simple access to broadband.

Then there are the emerging economic powerhouses of Brazil and India whose vast populations are still mostly unconnected to the internet, it seems when they do get connection they rush to sign up to the Social Network as around 40% of internet users in both these countries are on Facebook.

At this rate of growth India will be the number one country on Facebook (most represented) within 3 years, which will surely have an impact on how we all use the social network. However, by that time will the early adopters of the western world have moved on to something new as we are already seeing?

Tags: Facebook Usage Libya, Facebook usage India, Facebook Usage Brazil, Facebook Usage Japan, Facebook Usage Tunisia, Facebook Usage Europe, Facebook Statistics