Nielsen’s just released a Q3 2011 report detailing the impact of social media in the US today. The highlights are:

How Americans Spend Their Time Online

  • Americans spend 22.5% of their time online on social networking and blogging websites.
  • 9.8% of their total online time is spent on online gaming.
  • Americans spend 7.6% of their time online accessing email.

Popular Social Media Sites

  • Facebook is not only the top social media site in the US, but the top website for U.S. internet users.
  • After Facebook, the top social media sites are Blogger, Tumblr, Twitter, and LinkedIn, respectively.

Social Media and Mobile Users

  • Almost 40% of social media users access social media sites from their mobiles.
  • Social networking app usage has increased 30% compared to Q3 2010.
  • The top social networking apps in the US are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Foursquare.

How Influential are Social Media Users?

  • 60% of social media users review products and services.
  • 53% of active active social networkers follow a brand.
  • 75% are likely to be heavy spenders on music.
  • 47% are likely to be heavy spenders on clothing, shoes, and accessories.

What do these statistics mean for small and medium-sized businesses? Now, more than ever, it is essential to have a social media marketing strategy! There are a variety of social networking platforms and your company should use those that best serve its needs. To get some suggestions on how your business can best utilize today’s social networking platforms, contact us at Bixa Media. To get all the findings from the Nielsen’s report, click here.