6. Social media

Love it, loathe it, can’t ignore it. Facebook is changing online behaviour and is becoming a powerful marketing and communications channel (but not one that suits all brands).

The number of Irish registered users on Facebook was 1.7 million in August 2010, four times what it was at the start of 2009. An active Irish user is likely to be on the site every day, increasingly accessing the site over a mobile phone rather than a PC and using the site to socialise, network and to share favourite internet content, from YouTube videos to news stories.

Internationally, Facebook is closing the traffic gap with Google. Facebook was ranked as the number one website in June in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, according to website traffic data gathered by Experian Hitwise.

Social networking sites such as Facebook are winning a greater share of advertising budgets, with campaigns being organised globally but using local content to reach and engage customers in specific markets.

Source: Facebook, Jan 2009 – Aug 2010

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