Facebook – Google Plus – Twitter in the real world
A real quick blog post here, I was going to put it on Facebook or Google+ but then thought it would fit better here.
I was in a office yesterday (yes I do leave the dungeon once in a while) having a discussion with a couple of web guys about google plus. They love it and the web designer had kicked the tweet me button off the site to put the google plus button up there.
I felt this was a mistake as “normal” people are just not using g+ yet, I know that the big G are probably using it as a ranking metric and it definitely makes pages get indexed fast if they are linked from your google but for real people it is useless.
We disagreed (put 3 web geeks in a room together and they often cant even agree on what to have for lunch)..
There were 20 people in the office, secretary/admin people and sales people (plus us 3 very out of place geeks)..
“Hi I need some help, which do you use every day, Facebook, Google plus one, Twitter”
So out of 20 people
18 =Facebook regularly
10 =have twitter accounts
2 =use twitter a lot
3 =have not used it since setting it up
5 = use twitter once in a while but dont really seem to know how to use it for personal stuff. “I just post everything to Facebook from my phone”
2 = none – hate the whole idea
Half of them (9 of them women) said “whats the google thing” , the others had kind of heard of it because there is the button on the company site but only 1 had actually looked at it. Even he admitted it was only because the web geek guy pushed him.
I did not ask what they use for personal email, my wife uses yahoo mail and that may well be part of why she has not heard about gplus.
Google plus is great if you are in IM/SEO/Something geeky , and i know the take up numbers are huge but i think numbers alone are misleading, but outside of that they are not there yet.
What does this mean for you and me, if you are using Facebook to build groups and followers in your knitting niche, keep on doing it. If you have time to do the g+ thing as well then start to build a presence but i would not swap out all my time from Facebook to Gplus.
As for twitter.. I love it personally but I do not know if it will ever be anything other than a great social signal..
I know this is a very unscientific study and i could of asked more questions but thought I would share anyway..
Paul
Update:- Patrick was asking about twitter info, and while this is not strictly info, it is interesting if you are a twit geek..
Just tweeted this.
.. I have google plus and have logged in twice. I have only so much sociability to spread around!
I think you have hit it on the head there Mark.
Someone asked me if it was a good idea to outsource their social activity, so you employ someone (on the cheap) to pretend to be you and post your thoughts on Facebook etc.. Doesn’t sound like a good way to build a brand to me..
When the riots hit the UK last week, we decided to keep 2 twitter pages opemn, one was for #nottspolicelatest and the other for #mansfield -I have to say we were glued to these and straight away I REALLY saw how good they came in…. people all over my town were in and among the riots, watching stuff from their windows and tweeting….. folks were saying “is it safe to go down XYZ street” as I need to get home… now how to we get the same buzz to the IM world..
So I have to go and start a riot locally to get everyone into Twitter..
I think I will leave that to someone else to test as 80% (at least) of my neighbors have at least one gun in the house (that I know of)..
In the west that is what is called “Gun Control”.
I leave Gmail, Facebook, Google+, and corkboard.me set as app tabs in Firefox. So they’re always there for a glance whenever I want to stop getting work done.
Facebook is Facebook, nuff said. I use G+ for geeky stuff, not IM so far. Twitter I spam for IM, but I hardly ever read that stuff.
Thank you so much Paul – that is very reassuring – I was beginning to think the world was passing me by! I just can’t seem to muster up any enthusiasm at all for G+ – I am only just getting the hang of Twitter!
Good points Paul.
I think that if you want to get exposure and followers then G+ is something you can’t afford to not be using.
You only need to continue doing what you do now and post to G+ (publicly) that you’ve written a new post on your blog or whatever. The extra 2 minutes it should take is going to be worth it down the road for sure.
Sean
I think it is hard for people to think down the road when they are struggling to keep up today. Not saying you are wrong that it will be huge but I just wonder if it will ever catch on with people like my wife or her friends.
I will carry on posting as you say it costs nothing but a few mins and if one of my posts gets shared on there then it may bring more people but would that work in the knitting niche? Not at the moment.
Your Google Plus Info site looks very good by the way Sean, maybe that is part of the issue I have not taken time to learn the ins and outs of the gplus yet.
Paul
I agree with you, Paul. It was a mistake to bump the tweet me button. We’re in the midst of such tremendous technological change I think the best approach is to use a compass in the form of a question: WHERE is my market TODAY? Then just go there!
When your informal survey of 20 says 2 people have twitter accounts and 0 use it regularly THEN remove the tweet me button, eh?
Since you are a lover of twitter, Paul, do you have any recommendations to further one’s education regarding the subject? To most, it may seem “late in the game” to be asking such a question. But to this day I believe twitter has yet to see it’s potential. So if you know of any outstanding (and I’m talkin’ stellar) material buried under the mountain of you-know-what then please, I’d love to know about it because I’m still looking for it.
Kind Regards,
Patrick
Thanks for the comment Patrick
I like twitter personally, and it does get used by people – I cant accept I am the only one on there…lol
I do not have any recommendation for reading as the stuff i have read recently is very old and many of the programs mentioned are not free or are not even working anymore.
I think twitter is another path of engagement but I am not sure how engaged many markets will be.
Where is my market congregating?
Would be the question, i hear that even myspace still has its followers. If you were after Brazilians (as in people from Brazil not the errr hair cut) you would be on Okrut (sp?) .. Twitter may well be right for some markets still and finding the right place to speak to your market is probably the important thing here.
Hairdressers have their own social sites as do many other niches. Maybe that is all part of speaking the language of your market
Paul
Great post Paul!
As for me, I left MySpace when it started feeling like the local teenage street corner hangout. I know they still have a huge following of people who are artist and musician, working on getting their name out there. I’m sure there is some untapped potential in that market arena.
I know twitter has worked in several emergencies as a fast way to get information to people. It also seems to be a great way for advertisers to reach the masses, at least those who follow singers, actors, etc. Ashton Kutcher has more than proven the power of twitter in that area.
And who knows, maybe Twitter and G+ will never grow as fast as Facebook until those who put Facebook on the map show an interest in it. Remember, Facebook was originally for college students only. The popularity that it gained from that age group nationwide is how the “older generation” became aware of what they could use it for. (Although it’s possible that those same college students, now a bit older and wiser, aren’t interested in growing another industry, only to have it ripped out from under them).
I do think you’re right however, in that the key, whether off-line or on, is to locate your market and then decide which is the best avenue to reach them with.
Debi J
Thanks for coming by Debi
Some good info in your comment
Funny enough I just read this Post about the demographics of Google plus and in some ways it would appear to be similar to Facebook. I just wonder if they can make the jump from students to my wife/mum and the masses. Maybe they dont need to?
Paul
Very interesting unscientific study.
While we’re on the subject Paul, what plugin are you using in the top right of your content to bring up the social networks? I’ve used a few different plugins that do that but this one seems less intrusive. Cheers.
Damian
The plugin is from here simple enough to use on most sites.
I’m boring, I just add as much original content as I can. I do have facebook like on one of my larger sites and a twitter account but that’s it.. As for where my market is today, wouldn’t have a clue! I do the bits of IM I enjoy such as seo and good content and leave the rest for the birds, tweet!
Works for me
Wendy
In some niches content alone will be enough, in others it will not be. If just adding content that has strong seo is enough to get your site ranking and get you the traffic you need then more power to you. But some niches need a push and if you are needing a push then social media can be an easy way of doing it.