ICYMI – October 8, 2014
If you are like me you try to read as many articles, blogs and books as possible but just cannot catch all of them. “In Case You Missed It” is my way of pointing out a few “reads” that I think are too good to miss.
Social Media Demongraphics: The Surprising Identity Of Each Major Social Network – Cooper Smith
Each social media platform has cultivated a unique identity thanks to the demographics of the people who participate in the network. Some platforms are preferred by young adults, who are most active in the evening, others by high-income professionals, who are posting throughout the workday.
We explained in a recent report why many brands and businesses need platform-focused social media strategies, rather than a diluted strategy that aims to be everywhere at once.
In a new report from BI Intelligence, we break down the demographics of each major social media platform to help brands and businesses decide which networks they should prioritize. Being able to identify the demographics of social media audiences at a granular level is the basis for all targeted marketing and messaging. The report also spotlights the opportunities that lie ahead for each social network, how demographics affect usage patterns, and why some platforms are better for brands than others.
‘People Don’t Use Words Any More’: A Teenager Tells Us How To use Emojis Properly – Caroline Moss
“We usually just talk using Emojis.”
This is what 18-year-old Hope R. told me in a recent conversation we had about how she and her friends use their phones to communicate with one another. The college freshman, who has had an iPhone for two years and admits she “only calls her parents on the phone and no one else, really”, explained that emojis sent alongside every text are the new normal.
When I asked her about email, she dismissed it quickly.
“I just use that for school.”
Emojis, the smileys in Japanese electronic messages and web pages, earned their way into digital culture royalty just a few years back, when various developers created apps for mobile users to download that allowed them the option to add little picture messages into text conversations. When Apple introduced iOS 6, it allowed iPhone users to directly integrate emojis into their keyboard through the OS settings.
Now, they’re everywhere in pop culture. Katy Perry recently released a video for her hit song “Roar” which consists solely of the lyrics to the song as conveyed through emojis. Here’s a screenshot:
AwesomenessTV boss talks YouTube networks for kids” ‘I don’t think we’re replacing television’ – Stuart Dredge
But Brian Robbins warns children’s TV broadcasters that if they don’t make more shows for mobile consumption ‘you’re going to see the audience keep eroding’
AwesomenessTV launched in the summer of 2012 as a YouTube multi-channel network (MCN) aimed at tweens and teenagers. In May 2013, it was acquired by DreamWorks Animation for $33m plus up to $117m in bonuses for hitting future earnings targets.
Now in October 2013, its main channel has more than 900,000 subscribers on YouTube and 176m views, but its wider network has 25m subscribers, nearly 2bn views and 65m monthly visitors. A rapid rise, to say the least.
Founder and chief executive Brian Robbins says that AwesomenessTV is capitalising on changing media habits of its young audience. “They don’t watch television any more, at least the way we used to watch television,” he said during a keynote speech at the MIPCOM conference in Cannes.
Robbins said that children are still sitting on their sofas watching videos, but the source is now YouTube and the devices are smartphones and tablets. “It’s not just my kids, or kids in the US. It’s kids everywhere,” said Robbins, adding that half his company’s views come from outside the US, and that half its views and comments come from mobile devices.
“For kids their devices provide a gateway to their friends, and a means to consume the content that they love,” he said. “If you want to reach and engage kids, you have to go where they go, and that’s online.”
