According to a survey recently undertaken by Gartner, a firm specialising in technology research, we are not as keen as we used to be.
6,295 people took part in the survey, which was held in December 2010 through to January 2011. Their ages ranged from 13 to 74, so they represented a good proportion of the social media market.
Of these people, 24 per cent stated that they no longer used their top social media site as much as they did initially. However, in direct contrast with this figure, the survey also found that more people – around 37 per cent in total – used their favourite sites more frequently now than they did in the past.
Customer opinions on the topic of privacy – something that traditionally rears its ugly head when social media is being talks about – also popped up during the survey. In general, around a third of those who took part pointed to privacy concerns as the reason why they were using the sites less. However, the figure was lower in the younger age group of teenagers, where just 22 per cent voiced their concerns over the issue.
Perhaps the biggest issue revealed by the survey is whether the percentage of people who are becoming disinterested with social media is going to increase over time. There is no way to tell this of course, but it will be interesting to monitor future survey results to see if the percentage goes up. The fact that a larger percentage uses the sites more frequently is encouraging, at least.
