As should be expected, women are using social networks differently — and more — than men. They have more "friends" on the sites, but they are less focused than men on "acquiring" friends and more on building relationships. The research comes from MarketingCharts.
Simmons has created social media consumer profiles, although a few of them sound a little pathetic, e.g. the "socially isolated" and "approval seekers." (via Ad Age)
According to research from BSM Media, pregnant women and new mothers rely on word of mouth more than other women and more than consumers, in general. 64 percent of mothers ask other mothers before they make a purchase and 63 percent think other mothers are the most credible source for purchasing decisions (via eMarketer).
There's been a huge jump in the use of social networks among the affluent: from 27 percent of affluent Internet users to 60 percent between January 2007 and January 2008 (via eMarketer, from The Luxury Institute).
40 percent of women Internet users are moms with kids under the age of 18 at home. Two-thirds of Internet users who are moms of young children use the Internet to research purchasing decisions (via eMarketer).
A survey of journalists conducted by Editor & Publisher found that 73 percent use blogs for their research, most often to "measure sentiment." On the flip side, 86 percent of bloggers say they are being contacted by PR folks (that number has GOT to be inflated). 24 percent of these bloggers say this outreach from PR folks never results in a post and 49 percent say this outreach results in a post 25 percent of less of the time. What are the percentages like for mainstream media pitches?
Happy Thanksgiving, folks. A few links that I have tagged on del.icio.us over the past week or so. Stuff yourself.
Social Networks
Militaryplanet.com is a new social network for members of the military -- past and present. According to the press release quoted by 901am, the site was developed in part due to the military's decision to ban service members from using other social networking sites like MySpace. If anyone has the chance to check it out, I would be interested in hearing about the size of the community, the conversation and the features.
Digital Advocacy
Witness has launched "The Hub." The aim of the site is to allow individuals and groups to gather attention to human rights issues around the world by posting video, audio and photos; sharing educational and advocacy materials and to connect with others who are concerned about human rights violations. The site is in beta and, according to their "about" page, Witness has a number of additonal features that they will be rolling out on the Hub in the near future. They're looking for ideas and volunteers, so consider giving them some of your time.
Change.org has launched a social network for nonprofits and their supporters on its site. Nonprofit groups can use their profile to raise money, post videos and photos, list calls for action and blog; while visitors to the site can sign up as a supporter, review, share their desire for "change," or comment on the nonprofit. (Thanks to TechCrunch for the news.) So, do you think these nonprofit organizations have a bigger impact on sites like Change, where people are coming because they already care about the issues, or on sites like Facebook, where the reach may be broader, but the users may not have changing the world on their mind?
Janet Meiners at Marketing Pilgrim covers new research from the Center for Marketing Research that says that a larger percentage of nonprofit organizations than businesses are using social media. Almost half of the nonprofits in Forbes' list of the top 200 charities say that they use social media as part of their fundraising efforts. What is it that puts nonprofits out front? Is it their need to utilize communication tools that raise awareness without raising their budgets? Is it about being less concerned about the impact of transparency? Is it the age of the folks running nonprofit organizations? In her comments, Janet indicates that she thinks the justification is money, while others suggest that it is passion and simply the respond to a demand from an increasingly socially conscious public that is putting nonprofits on the cutting edge.
Politics
Compete has announced the launch of Candidate Facetime, their solution for measuring the effectiveness of presidential candidates' efforts to reach voters via social media. The metric used is the amount of time spent on each candidate's official web site. I guess, in the end, that's where the candidates want voters to end up (ideally, to make a donation), but what about the time spent with the candidates elsewhere within social media? Is it that they don't think it is as valuable or is it just too difficult to measure? What about a metric that combined time on the candidate's web site with the volume of conversation about that conversation within social media, along with their search visibility and links into their official sites? Any other metrics worth considering?
Search
Searchboth.com lets you search both Google and Yahoo, Expedia and Orbitz or YellowPages.com and SuperPages.com at the same time in order to compare results.
Health
I'm not sure how long it has been around, but DiabeTeens is a community site for young people with diabetes over at HealthCentral.com.
The Ladies
I'm not thrilled about it, but, according to Comscore (and Mashable), CafeMom is the number one destination for women online. (I'm not thrilled because I think most marketers presume that women are mothers or want to be mothers and seem to forget that those of us who don't fall into that group probably have a little disposable cash that they might want to get their hands on.)
Worldwide, more than 2/3 of Facebook users are women. In the U.S., 60 percent of Facebook users are women. (Thanks to TechCrunch, once again.)
My dad brought me to an Italian street festival in the south end of Hartford CT in, I guess, 1984, because Geraldine Ferraro -- the first woman vice presidential nominee -- was speaking.
At the time, I don't think I really "got it" that it was a big deal that Ferraro was on the ticket and I don't think the importance of it really sunk in until about four years ago (20 years later) when I had the opportunity to hear Walter Mondale speak about the decision to pick Ferraro as his running mate when he visited a grad school class I was TA'ing on the presidential campaign.
Both Mondale and Ferraro were back in the news yesterday, as Mondale endorsed Hillary Clinton and Ferraro, who is also endorsing Clinton, said something that makes me want to vomit in my shoes.
(I don't think the fact that her statement caused me to have intestinal issues is the newsworthy part, but you understand what I mean.)
In response to the debate last week during which poor defenseless Hillary was the target of criticism by her male opponents:
“'John Edwards, specifically, as well as the press, would never attack Barack Obama for two hours they way they attacked her,' said Geraldine A. Ferraro, the 1984 vice presidential candidate who supports Mrs. Clinton. 'It’s O.K. in this country to be sexist,' Ms. Ferraro said. 'It’s certainly not O.K. to be racist. I think if Barack Obama had been attacked for two hours — well, I don’t think Barack Obama would have been attacked for two hours.'
You have got to be kidding me! First of all, it's pretty damn okay to be racist in this country (Dog Chapman notwithstanding). I'll introduce you to some kids in Jena, Mississippi if you're feeling doubtful of this fact. Or maybe I'll just share a really dumb statement that Senator Joe Biden made earlier this year about Senator Barack Obama being "clean."
But, come on, can we PLEASE (I am begging you) STOP this nonsense. They are picking on Hillary because she is the anointed front runner. If they weren't picking on her, THEN, I would be concerned that they were being sexist. And, please, dear G-d, let us hope that she can take the jibes. My guess is that, if she is elected president, she's going to need to stand up to so much more.
Yesterday on This Week, George Stephanopoulos referred to single women as the "new evanglical Christians." We are the most powerful voting group in this election and we like it that way. We have stood up to more in our lifetimes than getting criticized by a group of politicians and so has Hillary.
Like Kirsten Dunst once stated so eloquently, "Bring it on."
Samantha told me about Mixx, which, says Samantha, is like Digg, but has a better design. (I'll trust her on that one, but it's not winning me over entirely.)
But this post is not necessarily about Mixx.
No, because Samantha sent me to Mixx, I found this story on the Entertainment page about The World's Largest Breasts and I may never be the same again. In fact, I feel a little ill. Or maybe just very very perplexed.
Does Chelsea Charms not have ANYONE in her life that could save her from herself?
Okay, serious question, where does the skin to CONTAIN those things come from? No, seriously . . . yeah, I'm perplexed.
Update: Samantha just reminded me that there's something called Photoshop. The earth is once again on its axis.
There's a new study from DoubleClick Performics, Microsoft and ROI Research that says search is a great way to reach moms, that oh so valuable demographic. 70 percent are using search engines to gather information before making an online purchase and 57 percent are using it to research a product before they buy it off line. 64 percent head to a search engine after they see an ad for a product to find out more information. They'll find the product site among the search results, but they'll also find consumer generated content -- including content from other moms -- that may sway their decision in your favor -- or toward your competitor.
Read more results at MediaPost.
WhyMommy at Toddler Planet was recently diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. She posted about her diagnosis and asked her readers to share the post -- literally cut and paste it to their own blog -- to spread the word about this easily misdiagnosed and very aggressive form of cancer.
In the past week, at least 60 people have done what WhyMommy asked them to do, spreading the message to their own readers. Those without blogs have emailed it to their friends and family, spreading it even further.
This is an amazing illustration of the organic power of social media. This isn't a manufactured campaign. This isn't about asking a mom blogger to write about something that doesn't matter to them -- whether it's a cause that doesn't touch their heart or a product that doesn't rock their world.
This is about a real women -- and the women who trust her -- having an impact and, hopefully, saving lives.
Here is the full post (share it with the women you love):
We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?
I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.
Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.
Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.
There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.
Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.
You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Ain't Easy - Over the weekend, Houtlust shared this social marketing ad about protecting yourself from breast cancer -- done by Saatchi & Saatchi for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia. I started off as a fan because of the simplicity of its message, but am wondering now if it's a little too "blame the victim" versus empowering women to take steps to ensure their health. I'd love to hear your opinion.
George, I am Your Father - John shared this latest bit of research from Harris Poll about newspaper readership in Europe, Australia and the U.S. Guess what? It's down, with folks saying it's everything from not having the time (yeah, let's talk about that) to thinking that the paper is too biased (big in Spain and the UK). Me? I'm still getting the paper seven days a week. Does anyone want to talk about the series in the Post about Vice President Cheney? It's like watching Episodes I-III of Star Wars to discover what the hell caused Darth Vader to become such an evil prick.
Not So Gay - Lauren Moore titled her post "What's the gayest site on the Web?," which is slightly misleading, since she's really just letting us know which sites that target the LGBT audience have the best reach and engagement metrics. I don't know what I was looking for. (Something like this?) But Moore gets ten points for a good post title.
Hey, Ladies - Now, this is gay. AfterEllen.com's list of the Top 100 hotties. They describe it as the anti-Maxim Hot 100 list (although Carmen Electra still manages to make it on the list). Leisha Hailey from The L Word is the number one hottie, which compels me to share that I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Hailey in 2000 when she and Heather Grody (aka The Murmurs) played a Rock the Vote event for us in New York. She also agreed to be featured in Rock the Vote's first (and only) gay youth targeted campaign, Take Pride Take Action. I'm a fan.
Skirt in a Twist - Laura sent this link for sk*rt around. It's digg for women who don't necessarily get off on hanging out with tech geeks.
iPhone Causing Problems - Janet Driscoll Miller at Marketing Pilgrim posts about the design challenges that will come from the release of the iPhone -- now only eight days away.
She Tells the Boss What to Do. Debbie Weil is an expert on corporate blogging. Check out the About page on her blog, BlogWrite for CEOs, for a list of "Top CEO and Exec Blogs."
It's Good to Be Green. ZeroFootPrint is trying to help individuals, organizations and corporations to reduce their carbon footprint. They have a partnership with Toronto to work with the city to reduce its overall footprint and Toronto Mayor David Miller is challenging other cities to join him in the effort.
Treehugging. Hugg is Digg for environmentalists. Everything is going green. So, if you like something you find on ZeroFootPrint . . .
So Del.icio.us. Web Worker Daily has 8 tips for how to get the most from del.icio.us (and we all know how much I LOVE del.icio.us). I'm adding the capability to add links to del.icio.us via Google Reader and to add to multiple del.icio.us accounts (I contribute to a few work accounts).
British Broads Rule the Internet. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, women Internet users outnumber men in the UK. Sites for parents dominate the top 10 sites visited by women, while social network sites and fashion sites are the most popular with younger women.
Can You Hear Me Now? One in four young people between the ages of 18 and 24 only have cell phones -- no land lines -- and even more, 29 percent of 25 to 29 year olds do, according to a survey from the CDC. Other correlating factors include lower incomes and race and ethnicity: 15 percent of Hispanic adults, 13 percent of Black adults and 12 percent of Asian American adults only have cell phones, while 11 percent of white adults do. It's a reality that pollsters and political campaigns are contending with in the lead up to the 2008 election.
You Will Learn to Like This. MomMeTV is Internet TV for, by and about moms. But it doesn't really feel like user generated content. Yet?
Facebook Rules. According to Compete, Facebook has been growing since September, with a 23 percent growth in April and the greatest density of users in the Northeast. Is it a coincidence that the Northeast also has the greatest density of colleges and universities?
John became frustrated with me for suggesting that there were significantly less women than men watching videos online. I'm guessing he's fearful that colleagues will then decide that they won't use video in their campaigns to reach women.
So, let me do some math here to illustrate what it means that a larger percentage of men than women who use the Internet watch video online.
Apparently, according to eMarketer, 97 million women in the United States use the Internet, while "only" 91 million men in the U.S. do.
Of those 97 million American women, 66 percent watch online videos.
Of those 91 million American men, 78 percent watch online videos.
66 percent of 97 million = (about) 64 million women
78 percent of 91 million = (just under) 71 million men
7 million more men than women watch videos online: a distinction that equates to a little more than 2 percent of the population of the United States and just under 4 percent of the population of Americans who use the Internet.
Have I confused you enough?
In other words, there are still a whole hell of a lot of women watching online video, so DON'T EVEN THINK OF ABANDONING IT AS A STRATEGY.
Good?
Procrastination is a bitch. I've got to catch up on a week of del.icio.us tags.
Research
Yesterday was an historic day in women's history, as Representative Nancy Pelosi became the first women ever to serve as Speaker of the House. And it just doesn't seem entirely insane to think that we could have a woman president in the near future, maybe even in a couple of years.
The news that the rape charges against the Duke lacrosse players had been dropped did not come as a surprise. Whatever actually happened that night, the dancer's story had changed so many times that it seemed rather unlikely that the District Attorney would be able to prosecute. I had begun to doubt their guilt myself after seeing Ed Bradley cover the story on 60 Minutes (in what turned out to be his last segment on the show).
But what DID come as a surprise was reading in The Washington Post this morning that one of the specific reasons that the charges were dropped was due to the fact that state law in North Carolina says "penetration with anything other than a penis is not rape."
Are you kidding me? Having something put inside your vagina -- regardless of what it is -- without your permission is rape.
Outrageous.
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