Who do you imagine when you think about the average blogger? If you imagined a 30 year-old, media savvy, passionate technological leader you were right. When it comes to choosing the right audience in social media, it is important that you are aware of the statistics of the population. If you have no idea what to expect about the social media world, the following article from the NY Times gives a great summary about who are the top blog and Twitter users in the world, Where the Bloggers Are Concentrated:
As might be expected, 21- to 35-year-olds now constitute a majority of all bloggers, making up 53.3 percent of that population, according to analysis by the social media consulting firm Sysomos.
Bloggers under 21 come in a distant second at 20.2 percent, with the 36 to 50 bracket close behind at 19.4 percent. Only about 7.1 percent of bloggers are over 51.
While age helps define the blogging demographic, gender does not: male and female bloggers are almost equally split.
The United States has nearly one-third of all bloggers, with more than four times that of the next country, Britain. But blogging does not always match up with Twitter use. In another report from Sysomos, Indonesia, for instance, had the sixth most Twitter users, but was not even among the top 15 for blogging representation.
Mobile phones, which can be used for Twitter, are more common in Asia than are Internet connections, said Nilesh Bansal, chief technology officer and co-founder of Sysomos. In addition, he said, “when blogging was booming, back in 2000, 1 percent of the Indonesian population had the Internet and hence they were not part of the blogging revolution.”
It was no surprise that the United States defined the blogging demographic, but it was surprising to me to see that there really isn’t a marked difference between male and female participation. In a society were men have been the leaders in the technological realm, you would assume that there are more men bloggers out there. However, it seems as if social media has evened out the score because it is easily opened to everyone, everywhere and at any time. Whether you work 60 hours a week or you are a stay-at-home mom, the blogosphere is there 24 hours a day.
There are so many topics out there and so many people expressing themselves that it really isn’t a world just for men or just for women, it’s for anyone that has something to say and has the ability (and time) to engage with the audience out there. I have to admit that, as a woman, it was great seeing that there is a level of equality in social media.
Regarding the Twitter situation, I hope that all of you were as surprised as I was that Indonesia ranked number six in most Twitter users when it has a lower rank when it comes to blogs. The interesting part of this information is the way in which cell phones have played a role in the increase of Twitter use amongst a particular group.
Similar to Indonesia, there are other countries and audiences that for x and y reason did not become part of the blogging revolution and therefore, have a low level of participation in this world. However, as cell phones and cell phone applications continue to become more and more accessible, it seems like these groups might end up becoming avid users of Twitter.
My advice to marketers out there: don’t ignore an audience because of their low participation in the blogosphere. Have in mind their access to smart phones and their use of other social media networks before disregarding them.
