Over the last couple of weeks several studies came out that for marketers should really shake the foundation of social media advertising.
However, a week later and I don’t see a “twitter” really talking about this. Why? Social media sells targeted ad space (ala Google) and they are making a killing. So if something comes out to the contrary, it could become a huge problem for social media sites to continue revenue generation, the biggest right now being Facebook.
Here is a snap shot of 3 studies:
First comes from Oxford University, by Robin Dunbar, a recognized professor of evolutionary anthropology. He has pointed out to what some of you may already know – people cannot efficiently interact with more than 150 people at any time. Our brains just don’t handle anything larger; this is also known as Dunbar’s number.
The next study, a much smaller one, is about the psychology of people using Facebook, especially targeted to the amount of friends they have as an indicator of self-esteem. The results show that the more friend’s one has, the lower their self-esteem.
Lastly a critical study tying this all up is brought to us by Richard Edelman, SEO of Edelman in a respected ad site Adage. The main point here is that the larger your group of friends on Facebook, the less worth each individual’s opinion has.
TO SUM THIS UP:
The more friends one has on Facebook or other online media items (twitter, youtube, etc.) the less interaction goes on between individuals (Dunbar’s number) and possibly the lower your self-esteem (easier to jump on bandwagons of information without really a need or desire to buy, or do much about it). On top of the added “benefit” that with more friends the less each individual’s opinion really matters.
THE KEY RESULT:
Consumers still require a professional opinion for product purchasing decisions, large groups of friends with random status updates don’t deliver the results. If you are marketing through social media, the bearers of opinion may not be those with 2000 friends, but instead much smaller groups with 100 or 200 friends. Changing the opinion of these people can cause a much more significant effect.
Mind Gears 