We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #54
Forrester claim US consumers spend equal time with TV and the internet
Forrester’s annual look at the US online consumer this week claimed that for the first time ever, the average time that US consumers report spending online is the same as they report spending watching TV.
This generated plenty of controversy and criticism online this week due to Forrester’s ‘self-reporting’ methodology differing from other established measurement sources like Nielsen and Comscore. In the face of this, Forrester maintained that the key difference in their data is that it’s based on consumers’ own perception of their usage habits, vs metered measurement methods.
Whatever the numbers, it’s interesting that what consumers perceive their media consumption behaviours to be is coming closer to matching the hard data, and that the change hasn’t come about because of the ‘decline of TV’ – but rather the increasing multitasking we are now doing in order to spend ever more time online.
2011 not boding well for magazine publishers
Next up for the advertising spend death-knell this week was the magazine industry. The FIPP World Magazine Trends 2010/2011 report predicts that although global ad revenues will be up, magazine advertising will see a further 1.8% drop, and will not be able to rely on emerging markets to bolster the decline as the newspaper industry has done.
Twitter raises a further $200 million in VC funding
Meanwhile, Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo confirmed that Twitter has completed its latest round of funding, securing $200 million in investment at a $3.7 billion valuation, and adding some heavyweight new board members as it gears up its business model.
Facebook doubles revenue and increases valuation
Facebook’s valuation has also increased to $62.5 billion following reports that its 2010 revenue will be close to $2 billion – well up on the projected $1.5 billion, and more than double their 2009 ad revenue.
The US market is where the highest Facebook ad rates are to be found with average Facebook ad CPC at just below $1, compared to an average range of $0.25 – $1 for Europe and as low as $0.10 in developing countries. Facebook is set to be the main beneficiary of increasing UK social network ad spend, predicted to double to £275 million by 2012.
Facebook launches new registration tool
Facebook have also launched a new registration tool that gives website owners the ability to offer quick, easy and social options for sign-up. When a user is logged into Facebook and arrives at the registration tool on a website, they’ll see that the form is prefilled with the relevant information he or she has already shared on their Facebook profile.
Simples…
Foursquare integrates photos and comments
Hot off the press today is the news that Foursquare has added the ability to post photos and comments as part of check-ins.
The new feature integrates with partners such as Instagram and Foodspotting – sharing photos to Facebook and Flickr isn’t included at this stage, but is promised to be on the way.
New Posterous Groups
For anyone who hasn’t yet used Posterous, their newly launched Groups feature could be a reason to start. Basically an enhanced way to manage a private email list (vs more public sharing on other networks), groups can be set up via email, all posting and sharing can be done by email or via the web interface, and there’s no need for a Posterous account.
As this video above shows, you can see this working well for family sharing – I won’t even be telling my Mum she’s using Posterous.
The 10 most powerful tweets of 2010
From negotiating aid flight landings in Haiti, to a very modern royal announcement, Twitter’s ‘The 10 Most Powerful Tweets of 2010’ makes for a unique review of the year that was. Well worth a look.
Domino’s to the rescue
Finally, our social media hero of the week was Domino’s UK on Twitter, who sent 500 slices of pizza to Gatwick to cheer up stranded passengers.
Let’s hope turkey pizza won’t be needed for anyone travelling this week.
Merry Christmas!