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Showing posts with label social media statistics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social media statistics. Show all posts
OCR Includes Study Of Social Media In Sociology Course
Social media is to become a part of the school curriculum, following an announcement from the OCR Exam Board that it will take into account ‘how people are responding to the new rules of the digital global village.’ Students will now study and be tested on social media, online security and privacy, and the culture of selfies.
The decision applies to sixth form students studying Sociology for AS and A level, a combined number of around 80,000 students each year, and will take effect from September 2015.
Source: googleenterprise.blogspot.com
OCR is one of England’s largest exam boards, and this decision is sure to have an impact on the way in which the study of sociology is considered across not only different boards but beyond – 7,000 people graduate with a degree in Sociology from UK universities every year.
It is not just Sociology which will be affected. Those students who study Sociology for A level go on to a wide range of degree courses, and by including a discussion of social media at this relatively early stage such thinking is sure to inform disciplines like history, literature, and even more traditionally science-based subjects like psychology.
The course will look at traditional sociological concepts such as identity, power, and community through the lens of social media, bringing a modernity and immediacy to the subject which is seen by some to be lacking. OCR’s subject team manager, Victoria Hunter, said that the board has ‘brought [their] syllabus bang up to date with exciting new content that tackles some of the biggest issues facing societies today,’ and hopes that this move will reverse the trend of Sociology being seen by some as a ‘soft option’ for A-level students.
Source: learnforlifeenterprise.co.uk
The use of social media in the actual process of education has been acknowledged for some time, with students using services like Facebook and WhatsApp to communicate and co-ordinate projects and even to stay in touch with teachers outside school hours. Many courses, particularly at university level, take place wholly online, and so for students to have some grounding in not just the practicalities but the theory and history surrounding social media would be apt not only on an intellectual but also a practical level.
This may be where the difficulty will lie as far as the individual student is concerned. Separating one’s personal experience of social media from a detached intellectual analysis of it will not be instinctive, and it is perhaps this – the ability to distinguish between social media as an aspect of daily life and its place within a broader socio-historical context – which will be of the greatest long term benefit to students.
Use of social media inherently encourages critical thinking, as the famous ‘Facebook gap’ between people’s real lives and how they present themselves online becomes an established phenomenon, and the codifying of this in the educational establishment is an important step towards widespread recognition of this fact. View Source Here
If you’re managing social media for your business, it might be useful to know about some of the most surprising social media statistics this year. Here are 10 that might make you rethink the way you’re approaching social media.
The 45–54 year age bracket is the fastest growing demographic on both Facebook and Google+.
For Facebook, this group has jumped 46%.
For Google+, 56%.
Those are impressive numbers against the prevailing idea that social media is "just for teenagers." It certainly points to the importance of having a solid social media strategy if these age brackets fit into your target demographic.
Rethink it: Keep older users in mind when using social media, particularly on these three platforms. Our age makes a difference to our taste and interests, so if you’re focusing on younger users with the content you post, you could be missing an important demographic.
Not only does Facebook have millions of users who don’t access it from a desktop or laptop, but mobile use generates 30% of Facebook’s ad revenue as well. This is a 7% increase from the end of 2012 already.
Rethink it: There are probably more users accessing Facebook from mobile devices than you thought. It’s worth considering how your content displays on mobile devices and smaller screens before posting it, particularly if your target market is full of mobile users. Of course, make sure to make sharing to social media from mobilemore straightforward.
Did you think TV was the best way to reach the masses? Well if you’re after 18–34 year olds in the U.S., you’ll have more luck reaching them through YouTube. Of course, one video won’t necessarily reach more viewers than a cable network could, but utilizing a platform with such a wide user base makes a lot of sense.
Rethink it: If you’ve been putting off adding video to your strategy, now’s the time to give it a go. You could start small with simple five-minute videos explaining what your company does or introducing your team.
LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, continues to grow every second. From groups to blogs to job listings, this platform is a rich source of information and conversation for professionals who want to connect to others in their industry.
Rethink it: LinkedIn is definitely worth paying attention to. In particular, this is a place where you may want to focus more on new users. Making your group or community a great source of information and a newbie-friendly space can help you to make the most out of the growing userbase.
Make sure you share consistently to your LinkedIn company page and profile by, for example, scheduling your posts.
We all knew social media was popular, but this popular? Apparently it’s the most common thing we do online. So next time you find yourself watching Kitten vs. Watermelon videos on Facebook, you can at least console yourself with the fact that the majority of people online right now are doing something similar.
Social media carries more weight than ever. It’s clearly not a fad, or a phase. It continues to grow as a habit, and new platforms continue to appear and develop.
Rethink it: Putting time and effort into your social media strategy clearly makes sense in light of these stats. If you weren’t already serious about social media, you might want to give it a bit more of your time now.
Although LinkedIn is gathering new users at a fast rate, the number of active users is lower than most of the biggest social networks around. So more people are signing up, but they’re not participating. This means you’re probably not going to have as good a response with participatory content on LinkedIn, like contests or polls, as you might on Facebook or Twitter.
Rethink it: If you’re hoping to get people involved, think about which platforms are best for that. Looking at the latest Twitter statistics and Facebook statistics, these platforms might be a better place for your contest or survey, while passive content like blog posts or slide decks might be just right for your LinkedIn audience.
Only 7% of marketers say they don’t use social media for their business. That means there are lots of people out there getting involved and managing a social media strategy. It’s becoming more common to include social media as part of an overall marketing budget or strategy, as opposed to when it was the outlier that no one wanted to spend time or money on.
Rethink it: If you’re struggling to make your strategy work, or you just want some advice, you don’t have to go it alone. If 93% of marketers are using social media for business, you can probably find someone to give you a hand. Plus, there are lots of blogs, videos and slide decks around to help you out. Be sure to find the right social media management tool for you to stay on top of everything.
Rethink it: While you can reach people almost anytime, since they have their smartphones with them almost always, this also means you can interrupt pretty much any part of their lives. Don’t forget that having a phone in your pocket all the time isn’t the same as being available all the time.
(Of course, not all marketers work at marketing companies, but the stats are still interesting--how many companies in any industry can afford to hire--or already have--a full-time blogger?)
Rethink it: If you don’t have (or can’t afford) a full-time blogger for your business, be aware that having a content strategy that requires consistently posting on your blog will mean a lot of work for your marketing team and/or other team members in your company to keep up that volume. This can work, it’s just important to realize how big a task it is to run with a full-time content strategy without a full-time content creator.
We’ve seen a lot of news about social media companies and privacy. Facebook itself has been in the news several times over privacy issues, Instagram users recently got in a kerfuffle over changing their terms of service, and the recent NSA news has seen people become more conscious of their privacy online.
But despite these high-profile cases of security-conscious users pushing back against social networks and web services, Velocity Digital reports that 25% of Facebook users don’t even look at their privacy settings.
Rethink it: Assuming that all of your customers are thinking along the same lines could be a big mistake. Especially if you’re basing that on what you’ve heard or read in the tech news. Remember that your customers might have very different priorities than what you expect.
Your social media strategy really comes down to what your goals are, and who your target customers are, but it doesn’t hurt to pay attention to the trends happening across the web. Hopefully these stats will help you to identify trends that will affect your strategy and adjust accordingly.
