The future of journalism – do media companies have to start thinking like technology companies?
I went to a new type of media briefing a couple of days ago. “New” because it was the old media world reaching out to engage with the new media world. The old media in this case was News Limited’s masthead The Australian – shortly launching their digital subscription/ freemium business model, a.k.a paywall. And as uneasy as it would have made the old guard feel, the proof was that we, the new media world of bloggers and social influencers, were there to chat, ask questions and perhaps offer insights, in our analysis of where the future of journalism was heading. The old guard is listening.
Mobile phones are changing the way we use social media
This infographic confirms what we already know: global access to social sites and networks via mobile phones is growing at a rate even higher than the uptake of smart phones . My favourite statistics from this:
* People who use Facebook on their phones are twice as active than non-mobile users.
* Growth in mobile access to Facebook grew by 112% year on year whereas Twitter access via mobile grew 347%
iPhones dominate Australian mobile internet
Recent statistics show the iPhone and iPod touch is dominant operating system – 93% of phones or mobile devices accessing the internet in Australia and NZ are iPhone iOS. Is Australia & NZ heavy iPhone penetration because Blackberry and other smart phones didn’t have much mainstream uptake prior to iPhone release? Or is it because Australians are the heaviest users of social networks and social usage continues as the fastest growing mobile category?
Australians increasing social media use is led by Facebook
Nielsen reports today via Nielsen’s 2010 Social Media Report, that there are now 9 million Australians interacting on regularly on social networking sites with Facebook dominating – more than 83% of social networkers naming Facebook as their main social networking platform, up from 72% in 2008 and 34% in 2007.
Overall, Facebook is Australia’s most popular social network with 75% of online Australians having ever visited, and via time spent per month (more than 8 hours per month which is seven and a half more hours than its closest rival site YouTube)
Women use social mobile more than men
Nielsen posted these mobile social stats from December 2009 about the gender differences when accessing social networks via mobile devices. You may be surprised to discover women were found do use their phones to “tweet” and “friend” 10% more than men. Nielsen research also showed the 35-54 age group had more active mobile social networkers than any other group.




